Fisher King, The

Fisher King, The

Synopsis

Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams star in Terry Gilliam's inventive but somewhat laboured fantasy fable set in modern-day New York

About

After NY shock jock Jack Lucas (Bridges) drives a listener to open fire on the patrons of a yuppie bar, his life takes a nosedive, and he's overwhelmed by guilt and depression. Three years later he's rescued from his suicidal slump by Parry (Wiliams), a loopy vagrant whose own world had been ruined when his wife was killed in the same massacre.

Gilliam's myth-rich urban fairytale follows Lucas' quest for the Holy Grail of redemption as he tries to hook up Williams with nervy Lydia Sinclair (Plummer).

As always, Williams turns romance into slush, but Gilliam reigns it in with his mad and magical design.

Cast & Connections

Actor: Mercedes Ruehl, Michael Jeter, Robin Williams, Amanda Plummer, Adam Bryant, Jeff Bridges, Paul Lombardi
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writer: Richard LaGravenese
Producer: Debra Hill, Lynda Obst
Photographer: Roger Pratt
Composer: George Fenton

In a nutshell

Bridges carries the film well with his depiction of sapping nihilism transformed by desperate hope, but top marks go to Oscar winning Mercedes Ruehl as his long-suffering girlfriend, and a delirious cameo of whimpering transvestite pizzazz from mustachioed Michael Jeter.

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