With the death of Heath Ledger, it can be assumed that more people will now watch the last movie he will ever star in, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” The viewer should be aware of what they are getting themselves into prior to watching this film.

Director of the film Terry Gilliam is known for making films that stretch the boundaries of the believable, plausible world as we know it. He has directed movies such as “Twelve Monkeys,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Brazil” and “Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail.” His movies feature off-the-wall characters and unlikely plots featuring disturbing visuals and themes. “Imaginarium” is no different.

The plot revolves around a traveling carnival-like show which is highlighted by a mirror that allows passers-through a moment of suspended reality where their imaginations come to life.

Doctor Parnassus is a character that is granted eternal life by the devil and runs the show as a competition to see how many people he can get to walk into their wildest dreams.

Heath Ledger comes into the picture as a man, Tony Shepard, that assumingly attempted suicide after he is found swinging by his neck under a bridge. Through tarot cards Doctor Parnassus decides to keep Shepard as an employee so he can draw in a new customer basis.

What plagues this movie is the same reason avid Gilliam fans watch for, the cooky oddness of each of his films. From a directing stance Gilliam is one of the top in the business for producing movies with out-there concepts and relaying a message to the masses that makes them think.

Over thinking this plot will send the viewer in a whirl-wind of ideas that eventually lead no where. The viewer begins trying to guess what they will see next instead of letting the mediocre effects unfold the plot.

Not much character development takes place within the star character Shepard, also played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Instead the movie is driven by the ways Doctor Parnassus interacts with his daughter as he struggles to find his true intentions for running the traveling act.

The acting in the movie is a delight as each character is portrayed in an understanding light, but that doesn’t mean the characters couldn’t be developed more.

The best part of this movie is the wonderment of what could happen next. At times the movie turns dark and other times it is filled with suckers and cotton candy.

The movie was made under an independent budget, but the visuals seem to be above average quality as the viewer watches the imaginations of a plethora of patrons.

Overall this movie seems a perfect fit for the unusual characters that only Ledger and Depp can pull off.

The viewer watches the movie, they leave with a feeling as though they missed something and should watch it again.

If they were to have paid attention, then chances are they missed nothing. Instead they should leave with the feeling that they just watched a Gilliam movie and weren’t meant to understand everything.

Brad York can be reached at 581-7942 or bayork@eiu.edu