Am I Imagining Doctor Parnassus?

Confusing, confusing, confusing.

I remember where I was when I found out about Heath Ledger's passing. I was sitting at my desk working and found out from my colleague who works in film here in Vancouver. I found out before people.com even. I know....impressive. You can't review this film without talking about the loss of Heath Ledger. You cannot deny that he was an absolutely fearless actor, intent on taking risks and reveling in challenging roles. OK. I have done my duty...Heath - what the hell were you thinking when you took on this role? Who knows....

You know, I appreciate that I may not be the deepest person in the ocean of intelligence but I really, really, really don't understand Terry Gilliam. I can't argue that he is a talented director/ film maker but I have seen many of his films, and honestly I really can't remember one that I understood without significant assistance from others. This movie was no exception. It was strange, weird and funny. Gilliam who wrote it as well, created some very bizarre story lines and characters. Here's what I think...it's a story about a man that joins a traveling group who's Dr. Parnassus is able to send people through a special time/space/travel thingy (yes, people that's the technical word for it). Now sometimes people go through this time/space/travel thingy on purpose to for a positive outcome but sometimes people went through by accident and ended up in a little hot H2O.

One thing you can't deny with this film is that the calliber of actors who are a part of this complex story is very high. Heath, Lily Cole, Christopher Plummer to name a few of the original actors and then of course Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell jumped in once Heath had passed away to help Gilliam complete this crazy two hour film. The writing was witty, even though I didn't always understand it. The colors and cinematopghy were excellent and I enjoyed the musical aspect of it all.

My mother always reminds me not to give away any of the story lines when I do my reviews...well Ma - you don't have to worry about this one. I can't give it away even if I tried! I can't explain it regardless.

Let's sum this up...I saw this movie. It amused but confused me. I can't explain it but I did enjoy the two hours that I spent being in the theatre. Don't ask me why, but I did.