Review of The Fisher King (1991) by Robert I — 21 Jan 2013

Leave it to Terry Gilliam to take a story about redemption and turn it into something quirky and off the wall.

Jack Lucas is a radio shock jock whose rantings lead to a psychotic listener embarking on a mass shooting spree at a nightclub. Three years later, Jack is still detached , depressed, and suicidal. During a drunken attempt to end his life, Jack is saved by a crazed street person named Parry who styles himself as a medieval style night on the quest to claim the Holy Grail. When Jack discovers that he is inadvertently responsible for this man's nuttiness (the man's girlfriend was killed at the night club), he takes it upon himself to help him out and redeem himself.

Like I said, leave it to Gilliam to bring you on a wild journey, one that, like a lot of his works, blurs the line between reality and fantasy. This actually might be Gilliam's most down to Earth film, but it's far from normal. Overall, I really liked it. It is overlong, sometimes incoherent, and maybe a bit too ambitious for its own good.

However, the film is shot well, has a lot of neat ideas, and we get some great performances from Jeff Bridges as Jack, and Robin Williams as Parry. This is easily one of Bridges's strongest performances, and he really fits the bill perfectly. Williams gets a little too characteristically off the rails at times, but he and Bridges do have some strong moments together, and I have to give him props for being willing to run around Central Park completely naked on a very cold night. Amanda Plummer is good as Lydia- the object of Parry's desire, and Mercedes Ruehl is nice as Jack's girlfriend Anne. I also loved Michael Jeter as a homeless cabaret singer, and Tom Waits as a wheelchair-bound veteran.

Give this one a look. It's wild, offbeat, and a good mix of comedy and drama.