It's a bit of a tangle. But, I can't help but enjoy Terry Gilliam's love for the trappings of the Theatre. His visuals are almost always magical.
Christopher Plummer dissolved into Doctor Parnassus wonderfully and Tom Waits was creepy as the devil. Heath Ledger, well, he becomes his character as always and this one was slimy. The adjustments (with the additional actors, Depp, Law, and Farrell) that Gilliam made to keep Ledger in the film did work and work well. This is a film that Gilliam fans will like, but will probably want to view it a couple of times to be able to take in all of the visual effects and get the story straight.
I must say though, this is, for the most part, a very dark film, even with Gilliam's glitter.
