---
title: "The Fisher King"
year: 1991
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-fisher-king"
fi1m_id: "the-fisher-king"
imdb_id: "tt0101889"
tmdb_id: 177
wikidata_id: "Q466297"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 9
published: "2026-09-13"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:15.188903+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Fisher King (1991)

Directed by Terry Gilliam · 2h 18m · MPA R · Comedy, Drama

## Identity

The Fisher King

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-fisher-king
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-fisher-king
- **IMDb ID:** tt0101889
- **TMDB ID:** 177
- **Wikidata ID:** Q466297
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101889/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/177, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466297

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 75 from 9 reviews

*In a sentence:* Commuters start waltzing, and for once the people holding everyone up have our full support

> Terry Gilliam’s urban fairytale is funny and moving, with Jeff Bridges and Mercedes Ruehl keeping its sentiment honest. The plotting wanders, but the actors and the flashes of romance make the detours worth taking.

## Synopsis

In Manhattan, Jack (Jeff Bridges) and Parry (Robin Williams) become part of each other’s search for love, sanity and a way forward. Their connected lives bring the city’s social extremes into a story in which a quest for the Holy Grail sits alongside loneliness and the possibility of romance. Terry Gilliam directs this mixture of comedy, drama and fantasy, with Amanda Plummer as Lydia and Mercedes Ruehl as Anne. The everyday city becomes a place where ordinary people and the concerns of a fairytale share the same streets.

## Review

Terry Gilliam’s *The Fisher King* is funny, touching and untidy enough to try our patience, but we recommend it warmly. It puts Jack and Parry into a Manhattan where a search for the Holy Grail can coexist with loneliness and hardship, and expects us to take both seriously. Richard LaGravenese’s screenplay gives Gilliam a redemption story with plenty of opportunities for comedy. The trouble comes when it keeps finding another complication after a scene has already made its point.

Jeff Bridges gives the film a steadiness that matters as much as Robin Williams’s energy. As Jack, Bridges can hold our interest without making every moment an appeal for affection; Williams’s Parry is more exposed, with the risk that the performance will become exhausting. What makes their scenes work is the sense that neither man can simply tidy the other one’s life. The actors make that dependence convincing even when the route taken by the story looks arbitrary.

Mercedes Ruehl, as Anne, gives the film some needed resistance to its own sentiment. There is enough force in her performance to stop tenderness becoming a foregone conclusion, and her scenes deserve the time that some of the plot’s complications receive. Amanda Plummer’s Lydia is equally important to the romance: her awkwardness feels individual rather than supplied to make a scene endearingly odd. Both performances repay the space Gilliam gives them.

The waltz in Grand Central Station is the clearest example of the film getting its scale right. Commuters begin dancing, and an impersonal public space becomes somewhere people might notice one another. We were moved by it, because Gilliam makes that small wish visible without stopping to explain it. Roger Pratt’s cinematography makes the collective movement the attraction; the people hold our attention throughout the spectacle. Mel Bourne’s production design keeps the city feeling lived in, which matters when Gilliam asks it to turn into a dance floor.

George Fenton’s score supports the romance, although we sometimes wanted less encouragement to feel what the performances had already made clear. That is a problem with Gilliam’s approach more broadly: a good scene can be asked to do too much. Humour, fear and tenderness arrive so close together that there is little time to recover between them. The shifts are often exciting, but the quieter exchanges would benefit from a little more breathing room.

Lesley Walker’s editing gives individual sequences a shape that the film as a whole lacks. At 138 minutes, the wandering becomes a substantial demand on our goodwill. LaGravenese’s plotting is the chief weakness: too many turns seem arranged to keep the search going, and the later passages can feel mechanically steered. Several strong scenes would have survived a shorter, firmer version, with more attention left over for the people in them.

Even so, this is a redemption drama that earns much of its warmth through the actors and the jokes. Gilliam’s willingness to make the fairytale frightening keeps it from becoming merely consoling, and the performances remain worth following when the plot falters. The humour also makes room for people who are allowed to be difficult company. Give it an evening when a few detours will not spoil the pleasure of spending time with these actors.

*Fi1m score 80, published 13 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like The Fisher King, and the praise gathers in two places: the performances and Terry Gilliam’s set pieces. Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams are singled out again and again for playing it grounded rather than large, with Mercedes Ruehl and Amanda Plummer close behind. The waltz through Grand Central Station is the scene almost everyone names, and several reviews find the film funnier and more touching than a story about redemption on the streets of Manhattan has any right to be.

The reservations are about shape. Even the warmer reviews call the plot wayward, and the cooler ones go further: Roger Ebert finds it rambling, overlong and arbitrarily twisting, while Slant thinks the script cloying and the sentiment numbing at 138 minutes. The New York Times and Variety sit in between, admiring individual scenes more than the whole and finding the final stretch mechanical. The spread is moderate, with no outright dismissals; notably, the reviews from 1991 are cooler than those written since.

## Straight answers

**Is The Fisher King worth watching?**

*The Fisher King* is worth watching for anyone who can forgive a wandering plot in exchange for warmth, jokes and four strong performances, and we scored it 80. Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl and Amanda Plummer keep its sentiment honest across 138 minutes that could have been shorter. Give it an evening when a few detours will not spoil the company.

**How long is The Fisher King, and what is it rated?**

*The Fisher King* runs 2h 18m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a comedy and drama film.

**Where can I watch The Fisher King in the US?**

*The Fisher King* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Fisher King, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Fisher King* carries a UK 15 certificate, so it is not a film for children. Terry Gilliam makes the fairytale frightening at points, and the film deals plainly with loneliness, mental illness and hardship in Manhattan, with humour and fear arriving close together. Older teenagers and adults are its audience.

**How does The Fisher King compare to The Apartment?**

*The Fisher King* and [*The Apartment*](https://film.one/film/the-apartment) are both city comedies that let loneliness hurt between the jokes, but Billy Wilder's film is the tighter and more controlled of the two. Gilliam's is looser, stranger and more openly fantastical, with a Holy Grail quest running alongside the romance. Choose Wilder for patience and precision, Gilliam for warmth and spectacle.

**What should I watch after The Fisher King?**

After *The Fisher King*, try [*The Apartment*](https://film.one/film/the-apartment) (1960, Fi1m 91): For another city comedy that allows loneliness to hurt between the jokes. Then [*Wings of Desire*](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire) (1987, Fi1m 88): For city streets made strange, with tenderness towards the people passing through; and [*Local Hero*](https://film.one/film/local-hero) (1983, Fi1m 86): Another wary encounter between money and enchantment, played at a gentler pace.

### Reviews we read (9)

- **The Times**, Kate Muir (★★★★☆): The search for the Holy Grail reaches peak insanity in this wild, redemptive ride through two men’s interconnected lives. Terry Gilliam’s direction takes the viewer inside Perry’s addled mind with memorable surreal sequences like commuters waltzing in Grand Central Station. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/film-review-the-fisher-king-1991-wmxvhnzjs)
- **Time Out**, GA (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the plot wayward but praises Gilliam's film as mostly funny and exhilarating, a nightmarish yet romantic study of loneliness, lunacy, despair and violence that is spectacularly visual. The actors, especially Bridges and Plummer, are given space and respond admirably, making this modern fairytale scary, touching, often hilarious and surprisingly enchanting. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-fisher-king)
- **Empire**, Jo Berry (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an original and touching mix of fantasy and melodrama that is well worth seeing, praising its vivid set pieces such as the waltz in Grand Central Station and strong performances from Jeff Bridges and Mercedes Ruehl. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/fisher-king-review/)
- **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (80/100, inferred): The critic argues that the pairing of Robin Williams and Terry Gilliam brings out the best in both artists in this buddy comedy, with strong grounded performances from Williams, Bridges, and others that avoid over-the-top excess while finding beauty in intimate character moments. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/somehow-robin-williams-plus-terry-gilliam-does-not-equ-1798271589)
- **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (70/100, inferred): Gilliam and screenwriter LaGravenese use irreverence and satire to make a potentially mawkish redemption story work, delivering a big, messy, exuberant film that is better scene-by-scene than as a whole. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/22/movies/film-view-the-fisher-king-is-wise-enough-to-be-wacky.html)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): The film features two actors at the top of their form in a compelling, well-directed story that delineates Manhattan's social extremes, with lively scripting and memorable scenes, though the final stretch feels mechanical. [Read](https://variety.com/1990/film/reviews/the-fisher-king-1200428717/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (60/100, inferred): The film is a rambling, eccentric mix of urban grit, fantasy, redemption arcs, and excess that includes strong individual sequences and performances but ultimately feels disorganized and overlong with too many arbitrary twists. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-fisher-king-1991)
- **Slant Magazine**, Clayton Dillard (60/100, inferred): The critic views Gilliam’s visually inventive film as getting a phenomenal 4K UHD upgrade from Criterion, but finds the ungainly 138-minute prestige Hollywood product undermined by a cloying script that mixes the fantastic and sentimental to numbing effect. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-fisher-king-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-terry-gilliam/)
- **The Skinny**, Ian Schultz (★★★★): Gilliam delivers a strong narrative-driven drama that showcases his imaginative style without overreliance on visuals. The lead performances from Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, along with Mercedes Ruehl's Oscar-winning turn, stand out as highlights. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/the-fisher-king)

## Details

- **Director:** Terry Gilliam
- **Director:** Terry Gilliam
- **Writer:** Richard LaGravenese
- **Cinematography:** Roger Pratt
- **Editor:** Lesley Walker
- **Music:** George Fenton
- **Production design:** Mel Bourne
- **Producer:** Lynda Obst, Debra Hill
- **Cast:** Robin Williams as Parry; Jeff Bridges as Jack; Amanda Plummer as Lydia; Mercedes Ruehl as Anne; Michael Jeter as Homeless Cabaret Singer; William Jay Marshall as Jamaican Bum; Chris Howell as Red Knight; Adam Bryant as Radio Engineer
- **Runtime:** 2h 18m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 20 September 1991
- **Genres:** Comedy, Drama
- **Also in:** [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 1991)
- **Budget:** $24 million
- **Box office:** $42 million

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-13.*

Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, DE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NZ, PL, PT, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1992: Best Actor (nominated); Best Original Score (nominated); Best Production Design (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (won)

## If you liked this

- *The Apartment* (1960), Fi1m 91: For another city comedy that allows loneliness to hurt between the jokes. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md)
- *The Man Without a Past* (2002): A drier, more restrained tale of starting again among people with little.
- *Wings of Desire* (1987), Fi1m 88: For city streets made strange, with tenderness towards the people passing through. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md)
- *Local Hero* (1983), Fi1m 86: Another wary encounter between money and enchantment, played at a gentler pace. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/local-hero.md)
- *Brazil* (1985), Fi1m 83: Gilliam lets fantasy loose against a harsher world, with considerably less comfort. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/brazil.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-fisher-king