I am not a fan of Robin Williams.  In fact, his shtick really gets under my skin.  Even though he goes in to a couple of typical “Robin Williams” moments in this movie; he doesn’t do it enough to ruin The Fisher King.  Terry Gilliam has proven that he is one of the masters of the modern fairy tale or just the flat out weird and he nails this one.

Jeff Bridges plays a Howard Stern like shock jock whose cruelty leads to one of listeners shooting up a restaurant and killing a woman.  This leads Bridge’s character to depression and alcoholism.  Williams plays Parry, a homeless man who saves Bridges from some thugs while he is on one of his benders.  Parry has obviously lost his mind as he is on a search for the Holy Grail in New York City.  The two become friends and Bridges joins him on his quest for the Grail.  

There is a little bit of everything in this movie.  Violence, romance, an elaborate dance sequence in Grand Central Station and some sort of evil knight on horse back that is trying to kill Parry.  I call this a modern day fairy tale because it sort of weaves in and out of reality and fantasy even though most of the fantasy is probably just taking place in Parry’s imagination.  There are beautiful shots of New York City throughout and it’s a great escapism movie.  I highly recommend it even if Robin Williams tries to ruin it at times.