Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 140 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Excuse me, can you help me? I’m at an absolute loss. I’ve been looking for over an hour, and I’m losing my mind! What I’m in the mood for is sort of a, uh, Jeff Bridgesy, Robin Williamsy kinda thing. I’m looking for something zany!
Hey Cinapsers, This is obviously a very special and somewhat melancholy week for the column as we say our goodbyes to Robin Williams while celebrating his life by watching one of his best films, The Fisher King, together. Both Williams and Bridges are positively riveting as two broken men whose destinies, marked by a common tragedy, become irreversibly intertwined. Thanks to all who participated, especially our fantastic guest contributors!
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
Next week’s pick is Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, which just hit its 35th birthday! Celebrate its anniversary with us by taking in this classic Vietnam-infused adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, written for the screen by John Milius. In honor of the film’s theatrical anniversary we’re focusing on that cut, but both the classic original and Redux editions are available on Netflix Instant, so feel free to watch either — or both!
Would you like to be a featured guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your 140 word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
The Team
Rhea:
The Fisher King is a lovely fable, about friendship, humility, and valor. But, like most fables from another era, it is uncomfortably outdated. Despite the stellar performances from Mercedes Ruehl and Amanda Plummer, all their scenes were cringe-worthy: men behaving badly, women loving them anyway. The scene where Robin Williams’s character, Parry, explains to Lydia all the ways he’s been stalking her as a proof of his love, and then she KISSES him had me face-palming, and the one in which Anne takes Jack back despite the fact that he completely used her had me screaming at the screen.
Robin Williams gives a beautiful performance, and I recall this movie from my childhood as a great teacher of the humanity of homeless and mentally ill folks. As an adult, however, TFK‘s gender problems stole the gleam from my re-watch. (@Rheabette)
Liam:
This film was such an important film to me growing up it is hard for me to see it and its imperfections. They are there though, not least of which in its female characters, who endear but also feel incomplete. I want to focus on some of these flaws, to maintain my critical distance and to share my concerns about the film’s gender politics. I cannot. For 13 year old me, this film combined a whimsical fantasy world with a grim cynicism about human nature that defined so much of who I am now. It addresses both homelessness and mental illness in a way that was ground breaking for the time, and is somehow both humorous and cruelly accurate. TFK is the kind of fairy tale that enchants me even if now I can see some of its rough edges. (@liamrulz)
Austin:
Before Robin Williams’ untimely passing, I had already batted around the possibility of programming The Fisher King for Two Cents. Mostly for selfish reasons — I’m generally a Gilliam appreciator but had never seen it. Deeply resonant and wonderfully acted, this film had the manic energy of Gilliam’s style, but also a sense of positivity that I wouldn’t immediately associate with his works. The film also comments on depression and mental illness, which while unplanned, seems a fitting takeaway for us. And yet, even in a film with very important themes of life, loss, and recovery, there are plenty of laughs and great, endearing character moments.
Thank you, Robin Williams. (@VforVashaw)
Brendan:
There are so many ways that The Fisher King could have gone wrong that the film being at all watchable, let alone the masterpiece that it is, is something of a miracle. It is incredibly easy to imagine the trite, hamfisted Oscar-bait weepy that this exact story could have become, and there is even evidence within the finished film of that other, awful version. Instead, some kind of alchemy happened behind the scenes, resulting in a film that is angry and loving, grotesque and uplifting, heartbreakingly graceful and achingly human. All four leads do career best work, spearheaded by Robin Williams plumbing depths of emotional pain that are truly painful to watch. While Gilliam never quite finds the right beat to end the film on, The Fisher King remains a triumph of surpassing emotion and story. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Our Guests
Justin Harlan:
“I was sitting on the john having one of those really satisfying bowel movements… you know the ones that border on mystical.”
This line alone made the movie worth watching as far as I’m concerned. I hadn’t seen this film in years and when I had before, I totally never realized its genius. Williams and Bridges are two of my lifetime’s best actors, comedic or otherwise. In this one, Bridges’s transformation from asshole to depressed asshole to redeemed dude is stellar. And Williams steals the show with his endearing craziness. Can’t go wrong Terry Gilliam flick with a brilliant cast. (@thepaintedman)
Ryan Lewellen:
Terry Gilliam has been my answer to, “Who is your favorite director?” for some time now. His passion for classical mythology, the power of story telling, philosophy, humanism, and whimsical visuals gets under my skin nearly every time. Having just witnessed The Fisher King, I am appalled to have counted myself among his biggest fans for so long without seeing it. What a delight! Finally, something worth watching on Valentine’s Day! If we dare relegate the film to a typically dimwitted categorization such as “the romantic comedy”, this must be one of the finest in the genre. Despite a complete lack of involvement in the scripting phase, Gilliam’s flourishes and obsessions run wild in it. It’s a gorgeous romance featuring masterful performances from each cast member. See it, and you will miss Mr. Williams even more than you already do. (@RyanUCM)
Dan Leyendecker:
In this movie you witness Robin Williams’ mania, darkness, and in between, his wonder. What a gift that is. Seems impossible to disentangle his passing from the pathos he exhibits as Parry, a man who disassociates after his wife’s violent death. His onscreen torment becomes uncomfortably real, but the movie is peppered with just enough joy. Bridges plays a shock jock so self-absorbed that Parry’s torment is the only thing that can take Bridges out of himself. Once I succumbed to the lunacy (this is my first Terry Gilliam movie), I found myself laughing hard and quieted by moments of strange beauty (Central Park, the Chinese restaurant, Williams leading the insane in song). “The Fisher King” is an ode to New York, an insane quest, a twisted dream, and a phenomenal love story. RIP Robin. (@Dan_Ley)
Did you all get a chance to watch along with us? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!
Get it at Amazon:
The Fisher King — [Blu-Ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]
