It’s a risky move driving sixty miles to see a movie you have been anticipating for over a year. It very quickly puts the movie into a rarified air, and you view it under a different kind of microscope because of the distance you traveled to view it. This was exactly my situation with The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Some might not recognize the film by it’s title, but it is the film that has the dubious distinction of being the final film of Heath Ledger.

The film focuses on a traveling London stage show of the same name, one that looks for people to throw away their inhibitions and prior machinations about what the show appears to be (another cheap, dirty nickel show), and to free their minds to their imaginations. Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his band of misfits, including his daughter Valentina and a brash little person Percy (Verne Troyer).

One night after a particularly rough outing, the group is crossing a bridge when a flash of lightning allows them to see the silhouette of a man hanging under the bridge. After a rescue operation, we are now introduced to Tony (Ledger), and the rest of the film follows his impact on the traveling show, as well as the on-going gambles between Dr. Parnassus and Mr. Nick/The Devil, played fantastically by Tom Waits. Continue reading →