I went to see this movie last week. It stars Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, and Tom Waits.

A traveling circus makes its way through contemporary London, providing a "show" for any participant of the public willing to take a chance with their form of entertainment. The center of this "entertainment" is a mirror positioned at the center of the stage, in which a person gets the chance to enter into their own imagination. There is always temptation, however, and few people take advantage of the potential of their imagination, and rather opt for a destructive solution, should their imagination prove difficult. Things get interesting when an outsider joins their troupe, after being left for dead with no recollection of his former life. He works to position the show for success, and becomes privy to Doctor Parnassus' real motive - to save his daughter from the devil (Tom Waits).

It's a whimsical film reminiscent of Willy Wonka - the first one. It also kind of reminded me of The Road to Wellville - very quirky in it's own right. It was shot really well, and the story moved along quite well. Heath Ledger died before shooting could complete - so Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to fill in for him in a not-quite-so awkward way. I got confused towards the end of the film - I see things very literally, and don't have the capability to see things figuratively - so I probably lost some deeper meaning towards the end of the movie. But I still liked it. It would be interesting to see what kind of special features they include on the DVD.

Oh, and before I forget, Tom Waits is the best Satan since Peter Stormare in Constantine.

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