You know a filmmaker’s stock has hit rock bottom when you’d rather watch a documentary about his failure to mount a production than actually sit through a new film directed by him. That’s where things stand with Terry Gilliam, whose greatest contribution to cinema over the past decade was his starring role in Lost in La Mancha, a behind-the-scenes look at the collapse of his planned epic, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. For a while there, following the sudden death of star Heath Ledger, it looked like The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus might have its plug pulled as well, but Gilliam managed to keep his financing in place by landing a trio of stars (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) to fill in the blanks. We might even be happy for him, if only he’d gotten back to the business of coherent filmmaking.
I’m especially thrilled with this review, since I didn’t realize it would be running the week Nerve was entirely sponsored by [i]The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus[/i]. Biting the hand that feeds me since…forever.