| The Fisher King | | Cast : | Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams | | Director : | Terry Gilliam | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | September 20, 1991 | | DVD Released Date : | August 28, 2001 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 10, 2005 | | Summary | This is in plain English...a....masterpiece | Content
 | The Fisher King is a movie that I greatly enjoyed rewatching a couple of nights ago. The movie is in my opinion a masterpiece but I'm sure that a lot of people disslike it. It's a very deep movie, and you have to open your mind to it. You have to think about the themes in the movie and think about each character and their personalities in order to enjoy it to the fullest.
Also, if someone tells you that it's a comedy.. Beware!!!! It's not... It's a drama with comedic moments. I guess you could call it a tragicomedy. The movie has some of the best acting that I have ever see.
Robin William's performance is in my opinion probably the best performance EVER in a movie. By an actor or actress. Period.
He will make you laugh, cry and fell terrible pity for him. How he didn't win an academy award or oscar for this is ridiculous.
Jeff Bridges is also amazing and also captivates you. These two leading actors did a fantastic job. And all of the other actors and actresses were also great.
The movie is about Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges), who's THE MAN. He's a rich radio station guy who's a snob, arrogant, and quite frankly, a character that you don't like. But when he causes an awful tragedy, he is let go and is at the bottom of his ship.
3 years later, he's an alcoholic, and doesn't even work.
He's suicidal and is about to kill himself when some punks grab him and are about to kill him when... Parry (Robin Williams) arrives and saves him. And then Jack finds out about Parry. He's a homeless guy who thinks he's a knight on a quest to find the holy grail. Jack thinks that he's insane. And then he finds out the awful tragedy that happened to Parry. And that tragedy occured becuase of Jack 3 years ago when he was let go.
Jack feels awful and befriends Parry and tries to help him.
The movie is so beautiful because it shows how one homeless man changes a once rich man. Parry transforms Jack into a kind and loving man, whereas at the start, he was a mean, arrogant, snob. The movie is quite frankly absolutely amazing.
The acting and the actual movie are perfect and this deserves to be owned by everyone. The story of the Fisher King in the movie is probably the most interesting and captivating.
Sit back and enjoy this original masterpiece. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 28, 2005 | | Summary | A MYSTICAL MASTERPIECE ABOUT A REDEMPTIVE ACT OF LOVE | Content
| I hadn't seen this film since it's release in 1991. I borrowed it from a friend's bookcase and watched it last night. I had forgotten how funny, surreal, and moving this film is. Along with FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, this is one of Terry Gilliam's best films. Although, the themes of these two films couldn't be farther apart.
Jeff Bridges is Jack Lucas. A rich radio shock jock who has unwittingly prompted one of his lonely and psychotic listeners to commit a heinous massacre of innocents with a shotgun in a New York cafe. Media attention has caused Jack to become a broke self-loathing alcoholic full of guilt. Robin Williams plays Parry. (Not his real name.) Parry rescues a suicidal Jack from two youths who attempt to burn him alive, believing he's a homeless drunk. Coincidentally, after witnessing the horrifying murder of his fiancee at the hands of the psychotic listener, Parry has become a broken homeless schizophrenic knight-errant in search of the Holy Grail. Is he schizophrenic? It seems God and some small floating fat people are very specific about proving their reality to Parry. They also insist that Jack is the "ONE" who can save Parry from the flaming Red Knight; a presence that symbolizes evil and haunts Parry's every waking nightmare. Parry tells Jack that only HE can defeat the Red Knight by stealing the Holy Grail. Jack starts to believe that maybe God is speaking through Parry, but ultimately remains unconvinced of the truth until Jack forces himself to perform an act of love for Parry. And thus begins Jack's redemption through Parry.
What prompted this review are comments made by viewers below. One who falsely claims this film to be meaningless and another who goes on about T.S. Eliot's Wasteland and how there's no "wisdom or morality" to be found here. Whatever. The search for the Holy Grail was a mythic quest to find the chalice that Christ used to figuratively share his blood, love, or life force with his disciples during the Last Supper. This film is a wonderful metaphor for the Blood of Christ which signifies to me, redemption through the sacrifice of love. The screenwriter, Richard LaGravenese, does this brilliantly through the symbolism of the Grail. Halfway through the film Parry, who's completely nude, and Jack are lying in Central Park looking up at the stars in the night sky. Parry tells Jack a story, or Zen parable, about a depressed King who is redeemed by the act of a Fool. The Fool doesn't see a king, but only a lonely and troubled man. The King tells the Fool he is thirsty. The Fool offers the King a chalice of cool water that makes the King whole again through his simple act of kindness. At the end, Jack must perform a similar act of kindness and sacrifice to make Parry whole again. THIS IS A BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN MODERN FABLE ABOUT SACRIFICE AND REDEMPTION OF TWO SOULS THROUGH AN UNCONDITIONAL ACT OF LOVE, as it may destroy the beginning of Jack's radio and TV comeback and a return to his old prosperous life.
I do agree with some of the reviewers who claim that even though Mercedes Ruehl won an Oscar for her role as Jack's girlfriend, everyone should have been nominated for a Golden Boy. It also should have won Best Picture. Jeff Bridges is remarkable. Michael Jeter is funny as hell. Amanda Plummer is perfect. And next to AWAKENINGS and THE DEAD POETS SOCIETY, this is truely one of Robin Williams' greatest dramatic roles.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, and if you're thoughtful, you'll be thoroughly moved by this amazing piece of film. Don't listen to the few negative reviews about this film. How can anyone not see the beauty of this story. It's one of the most surreal, uncynical films about THE POWER OF LOVE to ever hit the silver screen. Big budget Hollywood films like this are a rarity. SEE IT NOW and you'll be singing, "I like New York in June, how about you? I like a Gershwin tune, how about you?" It's a CLASSIC that belongs in your collection. I know it belongs in mine.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 08, 2005 | | Summary | Fantastic performance. | Content
| What if I told you you were going to watch a movie in which Robin Williams is all kinds of naked and you were going to like it? The movie I mean. Not the nudity. Well, maybe the nudity if that is your thing. Anyway, I digress.
I really have not seen a movie that I enjoyed on this level in awhile. The performances of both Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams were so fun to watch. It was like they were dancing. I began to think about just how underappreciated I think Jeff Bridges is by most people. I think he does a great job, especially in The Fisher King. I do not feel as though I need to justify Robin Williams' career to any of you...
It was a truly unique film that I enjoyed very much.
Understand that in my euphoric state of review for this movie I am not saying it was otherworldly. It was not the best movie I have ever seen. I do not mean to rave about it. It was simply very good.
Have you ever had a movie that just tapped something loose inside you and gave you that "hmmm, this is a really good movie" feeling?
One prime example of why I liked the movie was when Parry sees Lydia come walking through the crowd and all of a sudden all of the hustling and bustling commuters are waltzing around the room. The only two people not caught in dance are Parry and Lydia. Once she is out of his sight, the dancing was no more. It was this little detail set among others of the sort that show that maybe there was a little extra effort put into direction of The Fisher King. I have to say it was appreciated. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 22, 2004 | | Summary | AVOID - Pretends to be deep BUT shallow and gimmicky | Content
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Yes, I do like art films, non-mainstream films, thought-provoking films - and for those who are still wondering, I am no fan of action or classic hollywood formulas etc. Thus what I have to say is not based on any heartbreak over lack of action or cheesy romance or a simple linear storyline.
No, the real problem is that this movie takes on a number of contemporary topics (such as homelessness, urban isolation, depression, existential ennui, inflammatory talk-radio, ... yes the list is lo..ng) mixes them up with a dash of (obviously labored) enigma and a generous serving of shock-value items (violence, language, nudity, meaningless scenes - Robin Williams obliges competently here) and serves them up with the suggestive lure of slightly non-traditional cinematography (odd angles and extreme close-ups of faces, lips - also overdone) - with the hope that perhaps the pseudo-artsy segment will fall for these gimmicks (and forget that there is really no depth, no original thoughts or insights whatsoever) and hail it as another great, maverick production. (And judging from the nominations, the ploy worked!)
Yes, I like Robin Williams and that is why I fell for it - yet that couldn't alter a fundamentally flawed movie that's trying to exploit our interest in these "deeper human topics/issues". Great acting (even if I were to concede that) cannot cover-up for a pointless, phony script.
In summary, DO NOT waste your money (and more importantly TIME) on this one - even if you can see it for free!
Regards all.
P.S. There is a difference between being creative/unconventional for the benefit of gaining unique perspectives leading to new connections/insights - and being "creative/zany" for the sake of it i.e. to get attention and fuel our narcissism. It's good to be able to tell the difference. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 10, 2004 | | Summary | "The Waste Land" | Content
| After reading the first few of these reviews, most of these people are ignorant of what this movie is really about. It does have underlying wisdom and morality, but what you have to remember as you watch this movie is that it is based on a poem by T.S. Eliot: "The Waste Land." This is a difficult, obscure poem, but it is about broken lives, selflishness, being a prisoner inside oneself (in "The Fisher King," there are "prison bars" everywhere - Jack's studio, Jack's shirt, the building Jack goes into for his interview for the sitcom, etc.), and trying to find meaning in life by doing something for someone else. The movie is named such because "The Fisher King" is mentioned in the poem. I suggest you read the poem in addition to seeing the movie - it makes it immensely more meaningful. |
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