Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown
Runtime: 122 min
Richard Ibrahim
Terry Gilliams' latest film and Heath Ledger's last is a explosively imaginative and moderately engaging fairytale that for the most part lives up to the evocativeness of its title. The film tends to flounder in the 2nd half, but the characters are engaging, with both Plummer and specifically Ledger quite inspiring as the respective Faustian Carnival master and the enigmatic amnesiac. As is Lily Cole's porcelain-faced Valentina, and Tom Wait's deliciously seedy Satan. While Depp, Law and Farrell step in effectively to fill Ledger's shoes, the end result is intriguing but unfortunately muddled, with Ledger's presence strongly missed at the films' end. An imaginative vision that almost hits its mark but misses.
