Sony Pictures Classics | UK/Canada/France | 122 min
After the underwhelming The Brothers Grimm and the crushing disappointment that was Tideland, fantastical filmmaker Terry Gilliam has finally returned to form. This is a wonderfully imaginative journey that will cause any fantasy fan to rejoice in Gillian’s return. He offers his standard formula: an oddball comedic tone, fantastical set pieces and flawed characters meshed together to make for an extremely surreal experience.
Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is immortal and runs a traveling magic mirror show. His mirror brings participants into a world full of wonder, combined of both Parnassus’ mind and that of the one in the imaginarium. How did Parnassus gain eternal life? A long, long time ago he made a deal with Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) a.k.a. the devil. It came from a bet Parnassus one. Unfortunately, like any successful gambler, Parnassus makes another deal to win over the love a woman. The catch, however, is that when his first child turns 16 her soul will belong to Mr. Nick. In the present day, her daughter Valentina’s (Lily Cole) birthday is only days away. Mr. Nick has now come to collect. With no other option, Parnassus makes another bet with Mr. Nick to free his daughter’s soul: the first one of them to collect five souls wins. They collect the souls within the imaginarium, even though it’s not quite clear what they do with the souls they win. With the help of a mysterious stranger named Tony (Heath Ledger), Parnassus sees a chance at saving his daughter.
The story doesn’t revolve around Ledger’s Tony, as the ads imply. The main focus is Dr. Parnassus; Valentina and Tony are simply supporting characters. They all represent something different: Parnassus redemption, Lily innocence and Tony something else entirely that we cannot point out initially. They all have different motives. They’re all striving for something. That’s what truly drives the story. The first two acts play out with a brisk pace with Parnassus and Mr. Nick battling it out for Valentina. Everything from the exposition to the conflict are set up perfectly, but this all gets lost in the final act. The film becomes unfocused, rushes through plot points and has characters acting out in illogical ways. Decisions are made that don’t fit into their previous choices and personas. It becomes a downhill spiral that holds the film back. There’s also a few nitpicks to be found in some of the film’s small murky plot points.
Ledger’s performance fits perfectly into the realm of other Gilliam characters. He is zany, odd and, most importantly, plays Tony as a completely selfish and despicable person. It’s the true joy of his performance that he never tries to sugarcoat Tony. Johnny Depp and Jude Law carry that same dark personality in their even more cartoonish takes on Tony. Colin Farrell extremely hams up the craziness in an even more over-the-top manor, which never becomes problematic as the performance is genuinely hilarious. In the end, however, the true scene stealer is Tom Waits. Waits is obviously having fun in the role and it shows. Mr. Nick is slick, charming and even likable. It’s somewhat ironic that he’s a more likable person than both Parnassus and Tony. Everyone, including Plummer and Cole, deliver great performances.
Unsurprisingly, Gilliam fills the screen with visual ecstasy. While he’s certainly to blame for the rushed third act, he also earns credit for most of the film’s strong points. Gilliam is a true master of imagination. Every imaginarium sequence is different and unique in their own way, never feeling repetitive or rehashed. While many will complain about Gilliam’s lack of practical effects and love for outlandish CG, it works terrifically here. All of those moments do come off a tad silly, but so does the rest of the film. The sense of humor, the characters and even the darker aspects are all in retrospect cartoony.
Even with the disappointing third act, Gilliam has still crafted his best film since 12 Monkeys. This fits perfectly into the realm of The Adventures of Baron Muchausen and Time Bandits. Anyone who loved those terrific films will undoubtedly embrace Gillaim’s latest.