Review of The Fisher King

Terry Gilliam's typically overreaching style does nothing for this underwhelming material about an unfulfilled radio shock-jock in New York who goes into hiding after suffering career misfortune, learning to live again after meeting an ex-professor who is now some kind of guru among the homeless. Literate perhaps but meandering, self-important comedy-drama, with Jeff Bridges visibly struggling on-screen alongside Robin Williams. Mercedes Ruehl won a Supporting Actress Oscar for showy, one-note role as Bridges' girlfriend. Williams, in free-association mode, attempts to steal the picture with his ranting, but he's mostly a nuisance. Overbaked folk lore and fairy tale symbolism detract from the narrative, and Gilliam is never able to move the audience emotionally with his heavy handedness. *1/2 from ****