DVD / Blu-ray review (region 2)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Starring Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell
Release date 29 March 2010

A travelling show picks up a mysterious young man who has lost his memory. But what has he got to do with a deal made by the strange Doctor Parnassus centuries before?

The words ‘quirky’, ‘oddball’ and ‘charming’ are likely to appear somewhere in a review of just about any Terry Gilliam movie. That’s not to say that the veteran director has a set formula; his cinema is actually very diverse, but there are certain tropes you can generally depend upon.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has all the hallmarks of a Gilliam movie. It looks stunning, has a plot that only just holds together and mixes the fantastical with the mundane. The central conceit, of a travelling show that leads to a domain where you must make moral choices, is an interesting one, and the worlds Gilliam creates are truly spectacular. They are even more spectacular thanks to the fact that they’re often juxtaposed with real-world settings. A Homebase DIY store is even used as a backdrop at one point, in what must surely be a first in fantasy cinema.

Gilliam gets the best out of at least some of his cast. Christopher Plummer is absolutely wonderful as the title character and Tom Waits and Lily Cole give up their day jobs with impressive results.

Less impressive, I’m sad to report, is Heath Ledger. It’s difficult to have to say it, but the death of the star has left the film feeling as if it's still unfinished, and the person who is most exposed is Ledger himself. His vocal performance is defined by a truly terrible London accent that sounds like it requires a good ADR session to fix.

It’s in the dreamlike sequences beyond the mirror that the film truly crumbles. Replacement actors Jude Law, Colin Farrell and, in the briefest of cameos Johnny Depp, appear but it just doesn’t work. The lack of Ledger and the inclusion of these replacements may have been an unavoidable way to finish the movie, but the story suffers for it.

The last sequence, in which Farrell takes on the role, is a mess, and the sense of panic and dismay that was occurring behind the scenes is all too evident in the finished film.

It’s hard to come down too heavy on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, especially as it cements Gilliam’s reputation as the unluckiest man still working in movies. But while there is much to enjoy and plenty to admire here, it’s too chaotic to be considered a success. You can’t help but feel for the hapless director.

Unsurprisingly, many of the DVD special features centre on Ledger, including a radio interview with the actor and a wardrobe test. There are also deleted scenes, various behind-the-scenes documentaries and a heartfelt commentary from Gilliam. Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 6/10
Far from terrible but a victim of serious misfortune.