The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Director: Terry Gilliam
Actors: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Tom Waits

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Many people may have not seen this movie because it was a limited release film, but I got the special oppurtunity to watch this film (on Blu-Ray too). The movie is directed by Terry Gilliam who directed 12 Monkeys, Brazil, and The Brothers Grimm. He was also one of the members of Monty Python. Now, if you have seen any of his other films, you will know he is kind of a wacky director but that wackiness makes his movies brilliant and very imaginative. He is a very visionary director because he knows exactly what he wants to show the crowd and what he wants everything and everyone in his films to be like. The movie is about  the immortal Doctor Parnassus (Plummer) trying to save his daughter from Mr. Nick (Waits), a.k.a. the devil, who 1,000 years earlier made a deal with Parnassus that, in return for immortality, any child he had Mr. Nick got when that child turned sixteen. While Parnassus is traveling with his daughter Valentina (Cole), Anton (Garfield), and Percy (Troyer), they find a stranger named Tony (Ledger) who has a dark past that we find out about during the film. Parnassus believes Tony can help him save his daughter so he makes another bet with Mr. Nick to try and save Valentina. The movie itself is a very creative idea that I believe could only work if Terry Gilliam did it. It also was a good movie because Heath Ledger was in it. Even though he died halfway through filming, the filmmakers got very lucky because he had filmed every scene outside of the Imaginarium. So, Terry Gilliam got Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play incarnations of Heath Ledger in the Imaginarium. The three actors gave all of the money they earned to Heath's daughter, Matilda Rose. I am glad Heath Ledger was able to be in this film because his performance is what makes this movie great. Another great performance in this movie is Tom Waits as Mr. Nick. He gives a performance as "the devil" where his characteristics are very calm and sophisticated and he just talks calmly to Christopher Plummer while smoking a cigarette. All in all, this movie was very creative and a lot of fun.

Rating: 4

Matt