European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A  Iii i c inc l 11 tristan picture Robin Williams left and Jeff Bridges become unlikely friends in the Fisher King opening oct. 5 on makes  Yorkus rot surfaces in the Fisher King by Peter Rainer los Angeles times the Manhattan of the Fisher King starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges is a monumentally grungy Den of inequity peopled with scurvy Ragamuffin and soul sick Slick stars. Its a vision of new York As medieval fortress and that a appropriate to the Story which is a modern variant on the mythological search for the holy grail. The vision is also appropriate to the Way Many people experience new York a As a forbidding Fly shot under glowering skies. As a Panorama of an infernal City scape the Fisher King which opens oct. 5 on the cafes circuit directed by Terry Gilliam and scripted by Richard Lagravenese is almost As startling As Ridley Scott a Blade runner. But Scott was interested in the futuristic voodoo of Urban blight. Gilliam has a funkier approach to rot. His tone May be condemnatory but As he also demonstrated in such previous vision scapes As Brazil and the adventures of Baron von Munchausen he is turned on by the awfulness. Gilliam s imagination is primarily visual and the garbage massiveness of Manhattan gets his juices flowing. What makes this movie different from his others is that he a also trying to give it a human Core. Jack Lucas Bridges is new Yorkus leading Shock deejay. With his hooded glower and his earring and his shiny hair tied Back into a Pony Tail Jack has the requisite pirate hippie look. His Sodden taunting rant on the airwaves is like the City a soul sick mantra. When he goads a disturbed caller to Lay waste to a Yuppie bar the Weirdo takes him literally and the publicity surrounding the carnage catapults Jack into dishevelled guilt Ridden obscurity. Three years later staggering through new Yorkus lower Depths he s rescued from muggers by a troupe of ragtag Wastrel led by the half mad Parry William who tends to Jack in his boiler room hideaway. The Friendship Between Jack and Parry is freighted with mythological baggage not just arthurian mythology but Don Quixote and just about every other Odd couple buddy twosome in literature and film. Parry As we soon discover was a medieval history professor who was in the Yuppie bar the night of the shooting and flipped out when he saw his wife gunned Down. He has been living in his own wild Twilight zone Ever since Complete with thundering fantasies of a Knight on horseback bearing Down on him in Central Park and a Mousy Damsel Lydia Amanda plumme whom he worships from afar. Jack rouses himself out of his self Haling stupor Long enough to recognize a shot at redemption he schemes to bring Parry and Lydia together. The subtext of the Fisher King rated r for language and violence is that love conquers All. Its the simple human gestures in this film that pull the deranged Back from the Brink. But the Chaplin it is que sentimentality does no to connect with the film s full blown weirdness or its spasms of knockabout lunacy. Michael jeters nuts transvestite crooner belting out numbers from Gypsy is a show stopper Gilliam is too tickled by grand scale grunge to allow the sweetness of these lovers to predominate. He does no to press Home any Fossil cities for transcendence because he is too Busy cavorting in the rubble. The Fisher King is All about magic but maybe you need a More simplified soul than Gilliam s to really do it up right. He throws so much into the Stew that it loses its savor. What Williams does in this film is in a sense perfect for a Terry Gilliam movie and that is what is wrong with it. He is like an actors equivalent to Gilliam a flibbertigibbet Cyclone of demented inspiration. Williams docs so much with his character that he a baffling by off putting you want to get away from All this a inspiration. A Gilliam does no to give enough weight to jacks fight for sanity in the Fisher King. He respects Jack but he a in love with his crazies. Their misery which is the misery we see every Day in the faces of the homeless is turned into a carnival. The holy grail in this film turns out to be the old cuckoo land sentimentality that the poor and the suffering and the insane Are More alive More visionary than we Are. Stars and stripes reviewer Chuck Vinch is on Vaca non All Doga of to heaven  g  in. Bac draft rated r it Ama. Kant Russell. William Baldwin. Sent i Cailenn. Robert in nuo. Ivald Sutherland. Rebeeha in Mownn. Lenn Ilei Jason i High. Body parts rated r. Horii. Jett i Dies. I  Duncan. John Walsh. Kim Vianes. City slickers rated r. Coined Hills i . Daniel Stern. Bruno Kirby Jack balance done to toll mom Trio babysit or a dead rated  comedy. Christina Applegate. Joanna Cassidy. The doors rated r. Drama Vul Kismet. Meg Ryan Kyle  Laii. Frank whales Kesh Dillon. Drop dead Fred rail la  comedy. Phoehe Cates Rik Mayall Marsha Mason. I in Matheson. Due Talosi Tho Povlo rated by. Animated. Fat Lenora rated r. Drama. Kill i Sutherland. Julia Roberts. Kevin Bacon. Freddy s dead the final Nightmare rated r. Horror in  Deane. Ricky Dean  Graffiti by logo rated Sci. Musical drama Brince Morris Day. Graveyard shift rated r. Horror based on a Stephen King Short Story. Not Shoal rated  comedy c Harlie Sheen. Cary flies. Valeria Molino Jon crypt i sin Dunn Bill Irwin  Bridges. Hot spot rated r. Drama. Don Johnson. Hudson Hawk rated r. Action. I uce Willis Andie Macdowell Danny Aiello James chum Richard of. Grant Sandra Bernhard. Rock boar s rated r. Action. Sasha Mitchell. Jean Claude Van Damme Michel Ovissi. Kindergarten cop rated  action Home do. Arnold Schwarzenegger  Hunt Pamela Reed. A kias before dying rated r. Honor scan Young malt Dillon Mas von Sydow Joy ice. Madonna truth or dare rated r. Documentary. Madonna. Mannequin two on Tho move k item la i. Comedy. Kristy Swanson a ferry Kisei. William Ragsdale. Memphis Belle rated by. Diana Matthew Modine Lyric Slot Harry Connick it mortal thoughts rated r. Drama Bruce w Illis Demi Moore Glenne Lle Adly Harvey Keitel. Mystery Date rated  action comedy. Brian Mcnamara Lilian Hawke Tuii in olo . Wong. Tho never Ndang Story ii the next chapter rated g. Fantasy. Jonathan Brandis. One Good cop rated r. Comedy action. Michael Keaton Rene Russo. Only Tho lonely rated b a id John Only. Maureen o Hara. Out for Justice rated r. Action Steven Seagal. Peter fan rated cd. Animated. Predator ii rated r. Science Licten action. Danny Glover Gary Busey. A Hage in Hartom rated k of cd Diama. Forest Whitaker Robin Givens Danny Glover Gregory Hines arcs Moke. Regarding Henry rated in a i v  limn son Ford Bill Nunn Annette Honing the rescuers Down under rated it Artoon. Robin Hood Prince of thieves rated h �-1 v adventure. Kevin Costner Morgan . Mary Fli Beth Maser Antoio Alan Rickman the rocketeer rated by. Action Hill amp Bell Alan Arkin Timothy Dalton the Rookie rated r. Action Clia Ilic Sheen lint lust Wood. The silence of the lambs rated k. Hot Moi. Jodie Foster Anthonly Hopkins soap dish rated bg-1 v comedy Sally Field Kevin Kline whoops Goldberg Robert Downey Cathy Moriarty. Star wars rated b. Science Licten Maik i Lam ill. Ila Riison Ford Carrie Lis Lici Betel Cushing Alec guinness James Lari Jones. Stone cold rated r action. Brian hos Woith.  Nee lie n no sen switch rated k i Imredy. T Lien Babkm Jin inv Smits. Thelma g Louisa rated r. Taitum Diama Geena Davis. Susan Sarandon Harvey Keitel. Three Mon and a Little lady  id com Edy Lorn Solleck ted Danson Roann , s Leve gut Lynberg. Toy soldiers hat cd by Lvalion i oms Gossell or. Sean Aslin. What about boat rated a. My do Hill my Ray Richard Dryfuss. September 22, 1991 sunday Page 19