MOVIE REVIEW: THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Glorious Noisemaker (see what I did there) Sean O'malley checks in with this review of Heath Ledger's swan song:

I went into this film with low expectations. I had a sneaking suspicion that the movie would not live up to the hype caused by Heath Ledger’s death during filming of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“. However, I had a morbid curiosity to see how they would manage to piece together something resembling a coherent film given the circumstances.
The film starts by immediately sucking you into the strange world of a traveling sideshow attraction. Terry Gilliam goes back to the Monte Python well and fishes out a surreal 3-dimensional world of 2-dimensional objects. It ma have been an old trick, but Gilliam created one of the most visually interesting worlds since “Big Fish”. The simple fact that he not only was able to finish the film, but was able to do-so without leaving huge holes in the story or plot deserves some mention.
Gilliam is the true strength of the film as most of the performances are pedestrian at best. Even the mega-stars that filled in for (Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell) do a decent job, but pale in comparison to the character created by Ledger. The constant changing of actors works from to storytelling standpoint, but creates an overall character that lacks logical character progression.
However, the performances of Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger and Tom Waits are so phenomenal that you can almost excuse the acting of Vern Troyer. I found myself wishing that someone would just step on him and save the audience from the worst line delivery I have ever seen in my life. If he were a foot taller, nobody would know his name.
Lily Cole is anther bright spot of this film. It’s not often that a model can make the jump to actress without sucking with the power of a thousand red hot suns (see Angie Everhart, Cindy Crawford, Gisele Bundchen or Tyra Banks). The cherubic Cole proves that she can actually act, though I must admit that several scenes made it difficult for me to concentrate on a word she was saying. Which begs the question…if an actress looks 12, is it wrong for e to search out the pictorial she did for French Playboy?
But, I digress. I truly believe tat had Ledger survived to finish his work his performance would have eclipsed his role as the Joker. The continuity of his character, and the dramatic build it would have given the climax, is the only thing keeping this film from critical success. I’d say it was well worth the price of admission.