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The Fisher King (1991)

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131 comments in total

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65 out of 67 people found the following comment useful :-
This movie should be on everyone's "must-see" list, 23 July 2004

Author: Laura from New Jersey

A touching yet humorous tale, THE FISHER KING brings together amongst the best performances given by Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, as well as Terry Gilliam's finest directorial effort. Solid supporting performances by Amanda Plummer and Mercedes Ruehl round out a great film that ranks among my personal favorites.

Bridges portrays an arrogant radio shock-jock, who's big mouth and flippant comments send a disturbed listener on a murderous rampage, thus ending his career. Enter Ruehl as his new enabler girlfriend, waiting patiently for him to drag himself up from the dregs, hoping to catch a ride to the top. Just when Bridges seems to have hit rock bottom, he encounters Williams, a crazed vagrant who thinks he is a knight in shining armor.

What ensues is a tale of remorse, redemption and rebirth which is made all the more magical by Gilliam's magnificent vision. Most notable is a scene which takes place in Grand Central Station where the hustle and bustle of the busy commuters dissolves into a spectacular waltz as Williams follows Plummer, the woman of his dreams. Gilliam's style makes Williams delusions come alive as the character makes the slow journey from trauma-induced insanity to stark, yet hopeful, reality.

Every character in this film undergoes a metamorphosis, each learning from the others along the transformation. It is a beautiful film to watch, and an achievement to all involved that subject matter of such depth can come across with such humor and with such beauty.

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34 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
Terry Gilliam, 19 September 2002
Author: mistresswong from Leek, England

Terry Gilliam has made a lot of good films and a couple of great ones(namely Twelve Monkeys and Brazil)this, though could well be his best.

Why ?

For starters there is the cast.Jeff Bridges,officially the most underrated actor of his generation, giving a performance that veers from one end of the spectrum to the other almost imperceptibly.From comedy to tragedy and back again.

Robin Williams- a great comedian and a better actor than he is given credit for.Fair enough he does tend to go through spells of making films primarily for his kids (Mrs.Doubtfire, Hook, Jack) but when he does decide to buckle down and do a serious role he rarely disappoints (Good Will Hunting, Insomnia, Dead Poets Society).It is with this role though that Williams gives what is the best of his career to date,as Parry. He is undoubtedly insane, but it is not yet too late for him, he justs needs someone to take the effort to save him, and if it had not been for Bridges colossal mistake and subsequent search for redemption, no-one would have done it, and he would never have survived, merely another casualty of another one of Gilliams nightmarish cityscapes. Mercedes Ruehl is perfect as Bridges suffering girlfriend.She thinks of herself as hard-bitten a survivor, and yet she continues to stay with Bridges, trying to prove to herself that she has the strength to change him, to redeem him. She wants to be his saviour, and yet he comes in the shape of a homeless madman, prone to dancing naked in Central Park and seeing floating fairies whilst defecating.The Fisher King is a movie about hope, despair and redemption, and all of the human conditions that fit in between.It contains one of the most inspired,beautiful scenes in recent memory,as Grand Central station transforms from a dingy,noisy concrete hole into a luscious, gorgeous ballroom, simply because of Lydia, Parrys love, the one thing that keeps him grounded in any semblance of reality.The chinese restaurant double- date in which Parry connects with her for the first time is both funny and touching, and makes what comes after even more tragic.

It is at times tragic,brutal even but it's heart cannot be doubted,and it remains a wonderful success.

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24 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Redemption and Resurrection, 29 May 2004
Author: Terri from Bangor, Maine

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Warning: Possible spoilers.

The Fisher King, a 1991 film directed by Terry Gilliam is based on the myth of the same name-a medieval legend that tells the tale of a dying king who through betrayal and tragedy has lost the Holy Grail. Ostensibly the cup Jesus used at the last supper and into which drops of his blood were collected at the crucifixion, it is the only thing that can save him. He knows this but he is powerless to do anything about it, and although it is right in front of him, he can no longer have the ability to recognize it. It takes an innocent fool with unclouded eyes and a compassionate heart to see it and to fill it with the healing water that the Fisher King needs to be restored.

In the film version, Parry (Robin Williams) and Jack (Jeff Bridges) alternately play the fool and the king, each in retreat from his own reality and each the vehicle for the other's redemption. Their lives first intersect when Jack-a shock jock-inadvertently incites a disturbed listener to commit a horrific act of violence that destroys many lives including Parry's. Parry escapes into madness and homelessness, as in a sense does Jack (though his is manifested through alcohol and a parasitic relationship) and they are each lost in a world of guilt that they are powerless to overcome. It will take each to play the fool to the other's king to open each another's eyes to the possibility of redemption and new life.

Other characters are interwoven (Mercedes Ruehl and Amanda Plummer aptly play the love interests) but it is Parry and Jack who are both the redeemed and the redeemer in this tale. There are stops and starts and other theological and social messages that are interwoven throughout, but this is first and foremost a story about healing the wounds of others, and the importance of giving over receiving. Through Parry's redeeming act, Jack is redeemed and through Jack's redeeming act, so is Parry. Unable to heal or even see their own wounds, they clearly see the wounds of the other, and like Christ, they provide the bridge to life. The Holy Grail, visible only through the compassionate eyes of the fool, becomes the cup filled with the water of life from which they both take a drink and are resurrected.

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28 out of 32 people found the following comment useful :-
Movie with depth, 14 June 2001
Author: Schlockmeister from Midnight Movie Land

The movie's plot has been discussed enough, no need to rehash it here. I just wanted to add a few observations. In my opinion this is one of Robin Williams' best performances. I know that at the time he was heavily involved in Comic Releif and this story about mentally ill homeless men and acceptance of all types of people really fits the PC Comic Releif mentality, but he really did a great job here, portraying Parry, a man lost in fantasies of knights and ladies.

Jeff Bridges is very Howard Stern-like as Jack Lucas, the insulated, rude talk show host. In 1991 Stern was still a New York thing, but being that his "fame" has since spread, we see who the character was based on with a little more clarity now.

Michael Jeter as the homeless, depressed former cabaret singer was a delight in every scene he was featured in. His "singing telegram" scene to Lydia in her office was a classic.

Mercedes Ruehl also stood out as sort of living outside this crazy world that Jack Lucas finds himself thrust into. Her home is a haven and scenes shot there are usually scenes of a return to normalcy in the story, a grounding.

David Hyde Pierce has pretty much found his niche as the asexual, slightly fey character. This was basically a toned-down Niles Crane in a hat here.

Amazing movie. Like other Terry Gilliam movies, they unwind like dreams and have the look of otherworldliness. I am sorry that the homeless people arent giddy and uplifting enough for some viewers, but in reality it is a pretty stark existance.

Recommended highly.

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18 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
The perfect Robin Williams movie (and much more), 3 March 2004
Author: McGonigle from bean world, massachusetts

This movie is really exceptional in a lot of ways. It's got one of those plots, full of ironic reversals and personal struggle, that's been turned into melodramatic trash in every creative medium ever invented. With Robin Williams as the magic crazy guy and Jeff Bridges in an 80s ponytail, the ways the basic concept could have gone awry (in other hands) are truly frightening to contemplate. But with Terry Gilliam at the helm, The Fisher King speaks to your emotions more directly and powerfully than 90% of the movies out there without degenerating into sappiness.

Perhaps the most brilliant acheivement of this movie is the way it takes Robin Williams' crazy-improvisational persona and makes it an integral part of the story. Instead of being a tacked-on adjunct to the "real" movie, Williams' stream-of-consciousness patter is essential to the work as a whole.

At the same time, Gilliam is making an almost-mainstream movie for the first time in his career, while explicitly referencing his past (the Holy Grail). It all comes together into a movie you will never forget.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Robin Williams should have won an Oscar for this movie, 20 June 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

"The Fisher King" is one of those movies that shows how, although we can't get over certain incidents, they may end up leading to our redemption. Jeff Bridges plays Jack Lucas, a New York radio talk show host. One day, he makes a mean remark to one of his listeners, and the listener murders some people. When it gets reported that the man had done this after a remark by Lucas, Jack knows that his career is over, but also realizes how he has been affecting people.

Some years later, Jack is wondering the streets and meets Parry (Robin Williams), a homeless man whose mind is gone. Parry believes Jack to be a sort of hero and Jack can't get him to think otherwise. So, the two accompany each other from then on.

Probably the movie's most interesting aspect was how director Terry Gilliam shows what is happening in Parry's imagination, contrasting it with reality. The Red Knight and Holy Grail make for some unusual scenes. This may be Robin Williams' best performance ever.

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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
a modern romance, 7 February 2006

Author: symbolt

This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. I kept returning to it over they years and I always found it a great and enriching experience to watch. I especially like the shifting incarnations of the legendary Fisher King in this film (the wounded hero, kind of the wasteland, keeper of the holy grail. The archetype of the knight and of the wounded warrior can be seen as one of the prominent archetypes of masculinity we have. By this view, this movie can be seen as a research into masculinity as such. The performances by Bridges, Williams and Ruehl are exquisite. The eighties' New York is a great setting for this ethereal, symbolic quest, and the surreal theatricalness of some of the scenes (a la "Brazil") only adds to the overall artistic congruence of the film. The visuals are great. The movie works on many levels, so apart from this very abstract layer, we get a funny and intelligent comedy about modern misfits - with a great love story, or two. Also, I especially recommend this movie to anyone who loves New York City.

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14 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Wow! Sooooooooo overlooked. A mini-masterpiece, 6 May 2005

Author: mtnhi from United States

I've watched Robin Williams/Jeff Bridges in this "fairytale" more times than I count. Finally bought it. You have to watch it at least twice , in my opinion,because the first time all I could do was try to let it "settle in".

I love movies that hit me broadsided and then blind me! I keep trying to watch it with my daughter, who only likes love stories, but if I can keep her still long enough she'll find out that this IS a love story, of the most incredible kind. A love story for all mankind.

I hate to gush, but if it's ever called for, it's called for here.

The first time I saw it, I was soooooooo impressed with Mercedes Rhuel's performance and actually said to my friend in the theatre, "That woman's gonna get nominated for the Oscar for this performance", which of course she won for her performance. So, I'm not so unsophisticated after all.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
sort of atypical Gilliam, if there is such a thing, 26 December 2005

Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

One never really knows what to expect from Terry Gilliam, but almost with fail, it never disappoints....except for perhaps Brothers Grimm, but I've only seen that once and as I recall the first time I saw 'The Fisher King" I don't think I liked it that much. A NYC shock jock (Bridges) says something to a regular caller on his radio show that causes the listener to go off the deep end & gun down a bunch of folks at a yuppie watering hole. The DJ (Jack) is so despondent by what has happened that he quits his radio show and works with his girlfriend at a video store. All the while imbibing large quantities of Jack Daniels. While out on a drunken ramble one night he's about to throw himself in the river when two young men who hate bums come along and try to douse him with gas & set him on fire, but he's rescued by some crazy homeless people led by Perry (Robin Williams) who take him in. The next day Jack finds out that Perry lost his wife in a yuppie watering hole a few years back when some deranged psycho came in and gunned people down. Oops. So now that Jack knows who Perry is he feels compelled to help him. Perry is also in love with Lydia, a mousy young woman (played by Amanda Plummer) who he stalks and knows her every move during the day. Of course Jack & his girlfriend take some steps towards "hooking them up". Anyway, this is a rather complicated movie to describe in depth, but things take a turn for the worse as Perry is beaten by the same thugs that he saved Jack from some time earlier and goes into a coma, right when Jack is poised to make his return to radio after feeling better about himself for helping him. No doubt this is one of William's better performances and Bridges is no slouch either. I wouldn't call this "typical" Gilliam but it's kind of hard to pigeon-hole his films. This is more drama than anything else but it's not without humor. This is a rather complicated and deep film, and I'd almost call it a sleeper, because it's certainly not one of Gilliam's better known films. I'd highly recommend it and the cast pretty much speaks for itself. 9 out of 10.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Still amazing on a 4 inch screen, 7 May 2006

Author: radseresht from United Arab Emirates

When i first rented this movie out, it was like an enchantment, even on a 4 inch screen. It was a tape but still, i felt the magic in the movie its self. But the Fisher King is more than a movie, it is a story of redemption, madness, guilt, sanity, poverty and love. In the movie, all these things come together. Jeff Bridges was always a well respected Hollywood actor. In the Fisher King, he plays a role a lot more different than the star man. He plays a radio talk show host Jack Lucas, a wild, arrogant radio DJ who's advice causes a man to assassinate seven people in a restaurant. Jack Lucas did this unintentionally, but as a result to that, he is now down and out in poverty. When almost killed by thugs, a insane homeless man (Robin Williams), saves Jack, and in the end turns out to be the husband of one of the restaurant victims. Parry (Robin Williams) has lost his sanity because of that. Jack feels so muck guilt that he wishes to help Parry meet with Lydia Sinclair ( the girl that Parry likes, played by Amanda Plummer), and help him find the one thing Parry treasures, the Holy Grail. The performances are incredible. Particualary Mercedes Rhuel, Robin Williams, Amanda Plummer, andJeff Bridges, they stole the show. This should be in the library of the top five fantasy dramas in Hollywood.

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