2009 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 3 min
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Heath Ledger, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell
Admittedly, this movie's plot is kinda complicated and the style is fairly artsy and pretty fantastical. But it's Terry Gilliam. And Christopher Plummer. And Heath Ledger's last movie. And although the plot seems complicated, the theme is the simplest there is: good versus evil.
The movie centers on a traveling stage act where immortal Christoper Plummer allows spectators to enter his Imaginarium. Inside, they must face a temptation found in their own imagination and choose between the good and the evil choice. A wager between Dr. Parnassus (Plummer) and Nick (aka the Devil) becomes the central plot, as Parnassus' daughter and friends face their own battles.
If you hadn't heard about this one yet, Heath Ledger died before filming was complete. Depp, Law, and Farrell stepped in to help finish the movie, free of charge, as friends of the late actor. How does that work? Pretty ingeniusly, actually. Ledger completed all the "real world" shots but not the scenes inside the imaginarium. The three fill-in actors take turns playing his character inside the fantasy world, where your appearance can be changed by your imagination. This minor obstacle is worked seamlessly into the fill and not overexplained or hidden. Each fill-in actor is meant to look as close to Ledger as possible, but it's not a big deal that they're not exact. Surprisingly, it's not as jarring as you might think.
For all its artisticness and its subbing in of other actors, I really do enjoy this movie a lot. Although set in modern times, The Imaginarium transports you into another world where all these fantasy elements seem quite commonplace. Really well done, all around.
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