The Fisher King

The Fisher King (1991) begins with a radio host in New York. Jack says something cruel to a caller on air, and the next day that man carries out a massacre in a bar. Three years later, in pieces, Jack meets a homeless man in the street: Parry lost his wife in that massacre and has believed himself a knight searching for the Grail ever since. It is the first feature Gilliam directed without writing. Richard LaGravenese wrote it, and unlike Gilliam's other films the fantasy here is not an escape but a symptom. Jeff Bridges plays Jack, Robin Williams plays Parry, Mercedes Ruehl plays Jack's girlfriend, and Amanda Plummer the woman Parry is fixated on. Its best known scene is in Grand Central Terminal. Parry sees her in the crowd and hundreds of commuters suddenly begin to waltz. It was shot in the real station after it closed for the night. Mercedes Ruehl won Best Supporting Actress; the film received five nominations. It runs 138 minutes. Good for: fairy tale narratives about grief, the dramatic side of Robin Williams, and Gilliam's visual sense. Less good for: at 138 minutes the middle stretches. The Red Knight sequences are too legible a metaphor for some. The resolution of Parry's mental illness is rushed and too easy.