Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 185
Fresh: 118 | Rotten: 67
Terry Gilliam remains as indulgent as ever, but The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus represents a return to the intoxicatingly imaginative, darkly beautiful power of his earlier work, with fine performances to match all the visual spectacle.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 11
Terry Gilliam remains as indulgent as ever, but The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus represents a return to the intoxicatingly imaginative, darkly beautiful power of his earlier work, with fine performances to match all the visual spectacle.
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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 278,554
Set in the present day, director Terry Gilliam's fantastical morality tale follows the traveling show of the mysterious Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) -- a man who once won a bet with the Devil himself, and possesses the unique ability to guide the imagination of others. Many centuries ago, Dr. Parnassus won immortality in a bet that found the malevolent Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) coming up short. While few would be foolish enough to try their luck against the powers of darkness a second time,
PG-13, 2 hr. 3 min.
Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Dec 25, 2009 Wide
Apr 27, 2010
$7.5M
Sony Pictures Classics
All Critics (185) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (120) | Rotten (67) | DVD (4)
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is one of those movies that, despite spectacular elements, doesn't add up to a spectacular film.
Terry Gilliam, the veteran film director who cut his teeth as the animation wizard of television's legendary Monty Python's Flying Circus, has flirted with genius throughout his career, and bedded her from time to time. In The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnas
Parnassus is fun to watch a good deal of the time, and Gilliam is almost always visually surprising, but Ledger could have used a more momentous send-off.
It teases with magnificently tantalizing moments that don't quite add up to one grand insight. Which, come to think of it, is an epiphany of its own peculiar sort.
When it's all done we're left with another recent Gilliam trademark: the highly imaginative mess.
Shot through with a bold, extravagant generosity of spirit, this journey behind the literal and figurative looking glass marks a gratifying return to form for Gilliam, whose recent films haven't quite lived up to his capacities.
One of the greatest motion pictures ever. From its astounding themes to its brilliant cast, stunning design to enchanting score, undeniable smarts to lasting significance, this is Cinéma! Buy this movie. View this movie. Marry this movie. I have spoken.
A return to form for director Terry Gilliam?
I don't think it's such a big heresy to say that Terry Gilliam is both a genius and an annoyingly full-of-it director who's coasting on the goodwill he earned with Brazil.
It's like snorting a line of pure Gilliam.
a confusing mess. ... a promising set-up assembled with bits and pieces of Gilliam's brilliance, but he clearly did not wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant vision
Overplotted and the film ends up as a head-scratcher -- we're supposed to sympathize with Parnassus, but the case just isn't strongly made.
Longo e com uma estrutura frouxa resultante das várias alterações, ainda peca pela resolução artificial que poderia perfeitamente ser descrita como um decepcionante diabo ex machina. Ledger merecia uma despedida melhor.
...Ledger's death casts a blue shadow over the entire proceedings, as Gilliam hasn't the heart to turn this parade of images into something like a meditation on the cost of achieving one's wildest fantasies.
I saw [this] twice on the big screen and chose it as my favorite film of 2009 - so obviously, I'm going to wholeheartedly recommend the DVD. There are tons of extras...
A trippy, uneven ride whose best assets are its imagination, Heath Ledger's final performance, and the three surprise stars who act as his replacements.
Terry Gilliam can't catch a break.
Fate's cruel trick -- taking Heath Ledger from us midway through filming -- has inspired Gilliam to make one of his most inventive and strange films.
Walks a thin line between the convenient and the absurd.
The actual story is muddled, but the imagination of the visual imagery is very good.
although there are resplendent moments, they are mired in the kind of general narrative mishmash that makes you wish Gilliam would get outside his own head a little more and try harder to get inside of ours
Heath Ledger is fine in his last performance, but the great Gilliam is still in a bit of a slump.
A splendid film from Terry Gillam. Ledger was doing so well in the film and his unfortunate death does take away a tad from the scenes shot after his death but all and all a very good film. A very visually pleasing film.
December 21, 2009Super Reviewer
If you like Terry Gilliam it is exactly what you hoped it would be.
November 4, 2010Super Reviewer
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