The Fisher King: Difference between revisions

| budget = $24 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web |title= The Fisher King (1991) -– Financialfinancial Informationinformation |url= https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fisher-King-The#tab=summary |website= [[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] }}</ref>

'''''The Fisher King''''' is a 1991 American [[fantasy film|fantasy]] [[comedy-drama filmdrama]] film written by [[Richard LaGravenese]] and directed by [[Terry Gilliam]]. Starring [[Robin Williams]] and [[Jeff Bridges]], with [[Mercedes Ruehl]], [[Amanda Plummer]] and [[Michael Jeter]] in supporting roles, the film tells the story of a radio [[shock jock]] who tries to find redemption by helping a man whose life he inadvertently shattered. It explores "the intermingling of [[New York City]]'s usually strictly separated [[social strata]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3606-michael-s-turn-michael-jeter-in-the-fisher-king|title=Michael's Turn: Michael Jeter in The Fisher King|first=Michael|last=Koresky|date=June 24, 2015|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> and has been described as "a modern-day [[Grail Quest]] that fused New York romantic comedy with timeless fantasy".<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/features/retrieving-the-grail-robin-williams-and-the-fisher-king|title=Retrieving the Grail: Robin Williams and "The Fisher King" &#124; Features &#124; Roger Ebert|first=Niles|last=Schwartz|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=15 August 2014 }}</ref>

Jack Lucas, a [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]], [[Misanthropy|misanthropic]] [[shock jock]], becomes [[Suicidal ideation|suicidal]] and despondentsad when he learns that some of his insensitive on-air comments inadvertently prompted a mentally unstable regular caller, Edwin, to commit a mass [[murder–suicide]] at a [[Manhattan]] restaurant. Three years later, Jack is working for his girlfriend, Anne, in her video store, and is in a mostly drunken, depressed state, fearful of being recognized.

One night, while [[Binge drinking|on a bender]], he is moments from suicide. However, he is attacked and nearly set on fire by teenage [[Punk subculture|punks]] who mistake him for a homeless person. He is rescued by Parry, a delusional homeless man who claims that his mission is to find the [[Holy Grail]].

Parry tries to enlist Jack's help in getting the Grail, explaining that God charged the [[Fisher King]] was charged by God with finding the Holy Grail, but incurred an incapacitating wound for his sin of [[Pride (sin)|pride]]. "A Fool asks the King why he suffers, and when the King says he is thirsty, the Fool gives him a cup of water to drink. The King realizes the cup is the Grail and asks, 'How did you find what my brightest and bravest could not?' The Fool said 'I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty.'"

Jack seeks to redeem himself by helping Parry find love again. Lydia, a shy woman with whom Parry is smitten, is prodded to meet Parry to join Jack and Anne for a dinner date. Afterward, Parry walks Lydia home and declares his love for her. She reciprocates, but the brush with reality summons the Red Knight. Fleeing his vision and the memory of his wife's murder, he is ambushed by the same thugspunks against whom he had defended Jack. Beaten and knifed mercilessly, Parry becomes catatonic again. Jack, feeling whole again after "saving" Parry, breaks up with Anne and begins to rebuild his career. However, he has a crisis of conscience during a [[sitcom]] pitch after snubbing a vagrant who had previously done a favor for him.

* [[Melinda Culea]] as Sitcom Wife

During an appearance on an episode of ''The Directors'', Gilliam stated that he wanted to do the film because he was tired of big -budget special-effects films, such as his previous film, ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'', which went over budget and cost more than $45 million, nearly twice as much as ''The Fisher King''{{'}}s budget of $24 million. This was the first film that Gilliam directed in which he was not involved in writing the [[screenplay]], as well as his first film to not feature any other members of [[Monty Python]].

According to ''The Directors'' episode, Gilliam came up with the scene in which Robin Williams andshadows Amanda Plummer meet duringthrough a hugelarge crowd performing a waltz in the middle of [[Grand Central Terminal]], because he felt that the scene that LaGravenese had written, in which a large group of people in a crowded subway listen to a homeless woman sing with a beautiful voice that fills the room, was not working. Initially, He was hesitanthesitated about this at first because his original intentions were to shoot the script, and the waltz would make it "a Terry Gilliam film". The scene was shot in one night with a mix of professional extras and passengers alighting from the train.

The film did moderately well at the box office,<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office 'House Party 2' Takes Top Spot |work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-10-29|url= httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-29/entertainment/-ca-481_1_house481-partystory.html|access-date=2011-01-01|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Terminator 2 About to Hit $200-Million Mark : Movies: While fall releases are in box-office slump, the summer smash climbs to 13th on all-time domestic ticket sales list. |work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-10-31|url= httphttps://articleswww.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-31/entertainment/-ca-816_1_box816-offices/2story.html|access-date=2011-01-01|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref> with a gross of almost $42 million in the United States and Canada,<ref name="allmovie">{{cite web|url=http://allmovie.com/work/77235|title=The Fisher King > Overview |publisher=Rovi Corporation|work=AllMovie.com |access-date=2010-10-22}}</ref> and an international gross of $30.5 million,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=June 26, 1992|last=Evan Frook|first=John|title=Col TriStar tide rising overseas|page=1}}</ref> for a worldwide total of $72.4 million.

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the''The filmFisher King'' has an approval rating of 85%, based on 66 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "An odd but affecting mixture of drama, comedy and fantasy, ''The Fisher King'' manages to balance moving performances from Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges with director Terry Gilliam's typically askew universe."<ref>{{cite web | title=The Fisher King Movie Reviews | url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fisher_king/ | publisher=[[Fandango Media]] | work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] | access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on nine critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{Metacritic film}}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>

[[John Simon (critic)|John Simon]] of the ''[[National Review]]'' described ''The Fisher King'' as "one of the most nonsensical, pretentious, mawkishly cloying movies I ever had to wretch[''sic''] through".<ref>{{cite book |title=John Simon on Film: Criticism 1982-20011982–2001|last1=Simon|first1=John |publisher=Applause Books |year=2005 |page=308}}</ref>

Following Robin Williams's death, a reappraisal of the film on [[RogerEbert.com]] stated that "no Williams film can hit harder — orharder—or be so fully consoling in such heartbreaking circumstances — thancircumstances—than ''The Fisher King''", in which his character "gradually simmers to a boil of bristling insecurities, terror and agonizing internalized pain".<ref name="auto" />

===Accolades===

| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen]]

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On June 23, 2015, The Criterion Collection rereleasedre-released the film on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring a brand new [[2K resolution|2K]] transfer and [[DTS-HD Master Audio|DTS]]-HD 5.1 [[surround sound]] mix.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fisher King |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28719-the-fisher-king |website=The Criterion Collection |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref>

On April 11, 2023, Criterion again released the film on [[4K resolution|4K]] [[Ultra-high-definition television|Ultra HD]] Blu-ray, featuring a brand new 4K restoration that was approved by Terry Gilliam.

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{{The Silver Lion (1953–1994)}}