It is impossible to write about this entry into Terry Gilliam's oeuvre without acknowledging the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Cast as the film's inciting character, Heath Ledger's untimely death spawned and air of sadness that blankets the film, especially considering the tragic nature of his character.

Of course, as they say, the show must go on, so "The Imaginarium" did as well. in an outpouring of cinematic industry kinship, Johnny Depp ("Fear and Loathing"), Colin Farrell ("In Bruges"), Jude Law ("A.I.") stepped in to play Heath Ledger's character, Tony's, alter ego when he is in the mirror world. What this film would have looked like had Ledger not departed can never be known. How much film had to be scrapped, how many scenes were restructured, what funding fell through as a result, I do not know.

For these reasons, the film, in all of its imperfection, seems to get a pass from me, as I find myself wondering how a film production would recover from such a blow. The only even somewhat similar circumstances I can think of off the top of my head is Brandon Lee's death during the filming of "The Crow," and the massive reshoot efforts undertaken to remove Kevin Spacey from the film "All the Money in the World," coincidentally played by Christopher Plummer ("The New World") who co starred with Ledger ("A Knight's Tale") in "Imaginarium."

So those are my caveats for a film plagued by problems. I watch this film with a wave of sad forgiveness and dream of its original intentions.

Some people won't care for this movie, even though they were able to finish it with out Heath Ledger who had died of an overdose during filming. They used several other well known actors and rewrote the script to make it work.

Terry Gilliam is a genius. His movies are surreal and philosophical. They have a moral to them and they always show the problems with humanity or human egos. It is a necessary evil to root out the human frailties and errors. It allows the viewer to see a new angle to their lives.

This movie has all that and more. I rate it in my top ten list for movies of this genre.

In London, Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a troupe of traveling entertainers including his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), midget Percy (Verne Troyer), and Anton (Andrew Garfield). Parnassus claims that many centuries ago, he gained immortality from the devil Mr Nick (Tom Waits). However it's a trick that turned everlasting life into everlasting torment. Then one night, they find Tony (Heath Ledger) hanged off a bridge. When he comes to, he can't remember anything.

It's got the wild imaginings of director Terry Gilliam. This is one rambling disjointed crazy confusing mess. And it has nothing to do with replacing the deceased Heath Ledger with 3 other actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law. I understand that part. Everything with the devil is just confusing. It is weak storytelling. However I have to give him credit for visual style.