The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is an adventure comedy film directed and co-written by Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce, it is an odd movie that yields the mixed results of its long development cycle.
In Spain, TV commercial director Toby (Adam Driver) is filming an advertisement featuring the famous literary character Don Quixote. One day, Toby visits a nearby area where he directed a student film ten years earlier which also featured Quixote. While there, he meets the same person he cast as the title character (Jonathan Pryce), who has since become so disillusioned with reality that he now believes he actually is Quixote and that Toby is his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Deciding to play along, Toby follows "Quixote" to see where he takes him on his so called adventure.
Fast-paced but disjointed, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote frequently suffers from its apparent 29-year-long development hell, so much so that it hardly feels like it was worth all that wait. Often times, it seemed like the filmmakers hastily cobbled together scenes written decades ago with newer ones in an effort to pan out the film's runtime, assuming the audience wouldn't notice. With that said, the film certainly isn't without its enjoyable moments. Being a Terry Gilliam film, it feels set in its own quirky and unique world, much in the vein of his previous efforts like Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In addition to this, the main cast were quite fun to watch. Adam Driver is his usual straight-man self, reacting humorously to the bizarre goings on around him, and Jonathan Pryce is clearly having a great time chewing the scenery as "Don Quixote". While this film certainly does not live up to its lengthy expectations, it nonetheless remains a curious part of director Terry Gilliam's filmography and is worth checking out for those who enjoyed his previous work.
I rate it 6/10
In Spain, TV commercial director Toby (Adam Driver) is filming an advertisement featuring the famous literary character Don Quixote. One day, Toby visits a nearby area where he directed a student film ten years earlier which also featured Quixote. While there, he meets the same person he cast as the title character (Jonathan Pryce), who has since become so disillusioned with reality that he now believes he actually is Quixote and that Toby is his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Deciding to play along, Toby follows "Quixote" to see where he takes him on his so called adventure.
Fast-paced but disjointed, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote frequently suffers from its apparent 29-year-long development hell, so much so that it hardly feels like it was worth all that wait. Often times, it seemed like the filmmakers hastily cobbled together scenes written decades ago with newer ones in an effort to pan out the film's runtime, assuming the audience wouldn't notice. With that said, the film certainly isn't without its enjoyable moments. Being a Terry Gilliam film, it feels set in its own quirky and unique world, much in the vein of his previous efforts like Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In addition to this, the main cast were quite fun to watch. Adam Driver is his usual straight-man self, reacting humorously to the bizarre goings on around him, and Jonathan Pryce is clearly having a great time chewing the scenery as "Don Quixote". While this film certainly does not live up to its lengthy expectations, it nonetheless remains a curious part of director Terry Gilliam's filmography and is worth checking out for those who enjoyed his previous work.
I rate it 6/10