Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges), a self-obsessed shock jock who thinks he has it all, is about to hit rock bottom. The cult personality spends his time on the radio insulting and berating his listeners, but when one caller takes Jack's advice literally and shoots up a New York City hotspot, Jack is sent swirling down into a depression that has him suicidal three years later. However, he is rescued out of the night by a different kind of knight in shining armor--a homeless man named Parry, played fabulously by Robin Williams, who thinks he's on a quest for the Holy Grail, which he believes to be in a Fifth Avenue town house. Parry serves as the living embodiment of Jack's guilt--Parry's beloved wife was killed in the nightclub massacre. Jack soon becomes conviced that by helping Parry he will also wind up helping himself, so he tries to help Parry win his lady love (Amanda Plummer), at the expense of risking his own relationship with Anne (Mercedes Ruehl, in an Academy Award-winning role), who has stood by his side during his downward spiral. Terry Gilliam's romantic parable THE FISHER KING is yet another visually stunning work from a master filmmaker, with a different kind of heart from Gilliam's other films, delving deep into the nature of love and loss, of guilt and redemption, of character and tragedy. Featuring a terrific cast and unusual locations for a fantasy story (New York City, brilliantly photographed by Roger Pratt), THE FISHER KING is both an exciting adventure and a charming romance.
