Our verdict on Heath Ledger's last ever film

Posted by Charles on Friday 22 May 2009

Filed under: Heath Ledger

When Heath Ledger died in January 2008, he was half-way through shooting a new movie for director Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys), called The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus. For several weeks, the project looked doomed, as there remained all the interior scenes yet to be filmed on studio sets, and no lead actor to be in them. Then Gilliam had a brainwave: due to the fantastical nature of the story, it would be possible for Heath's character to shift identity. Enter Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who stood in for Heath in the uncompleted scenes. The London-set fantasy adventure was received with sustained applause at its Cannes Film Festival premiere this morning; we just wish we shared the audience's enthusiasm. Gilliam's film is packed with incident, ideas and strong images, but we wouldn't have minded a more compelling storyline to sustain our interest over the two-hour duration. The plot is hard to sum up, but it involves a magical fairground attraction, where visitors go through a mirror into a world of their own wildest imaginings. Heath is impressive as the enigmatic Tony, who is saved from hanging under a bridge and then joins the ragtag family that runs the so-called Imaginarium of the film's title. The transitions into Johnny, Jude and Colin work surprisingly smoothly, but we fear that only keen Gilliam enthusiasts will fully enjoy this wearying, overly eventful ride. Heath fans wishing to pay tribute to the star may be less appreciative.

heat's film editor Charles Gant is at the Cannes Film Festival. The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus will release in UK cinemas later in the year.