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Jack, a talk show host whose unbalanced listener goes on a shooting spree. apparently tol. lowing Jack's advice. Jack is devastated and quits his job and drops out into a long alcoholic reverie. only tobe redeemed by Parry (Robin Williams), a home- less men who is convinced the Holy Grail is in the possession of a Manhattan billionaire, and that together they can find it. The screenplay, by Richard LaGravenese. seems to have been constructed like an airliner, with fail-sate redundancy. There are not only two heroes in need at redemption, but two heroines in need of love; Jaclt's long-suffer- ing partner Anne (Mercedes FluehD. and Perry's dream-wo- man Lydia (Amanda Plummer). And there are not only reel-lite problems tor them to conquer. but also the supemetural P088" which shows signs of MM; bias}; pruned of some of its quiet spots - _ did they intend to have all The Fisher King Is a disorgan- ized, rambling and eccentric me- via that contains some moments of truth, some moments of humor and many moments of digression. The filmmakers are nothing if not generous. We get urban grit, show biz angst. two love attains, the Holy Grail, the homeless. an action sequence. a dance sequ- ence. and an apocalyptic figure on a horse who rides through Central Park with flames shooting from his head. Even with such excess. at 137 minutes the movie The film .ttart Jeff, Bridges as Fisher Kipg C"'"'"'"" a movie too clever foil its own good qytytyt, in at each I mentioned that some of Robin Williams moments are funny. There is a way in which a movie like this. which allows fantasy to be real, has to play fair with the audience. Take the matter of the Holy Grail. We wonder at first if it really does still exist, there in that millitmaim'8 mansion (the Fifth Avenue Armory?. Later we won- der it it am. Later we winder ititwesareelcup.oronlyan idea, that the characters were seeking. Later we wonder if it made any difference if they found The Fisher King is so charming it's hard to say when we notice it has no clothes. Individual sequ- ences are bittersweet and mov- ing, some of Williams' inventions are funny, there is no denying the originality and force of the Mer. cedes Fluehl performance - and yet there comes a time when we cannot sustain one more manic outburst, one more flight of fancy, one more arbitrary twist of plot, one more revelation that the mo- vie tricked us into caring about subjects it eventually throws away. bilities of the Grail, the ghost horsemen and Perry's haunting visions. Plus a section in which one of the characters disappears into a coma, and another in which the title is explained in a mono. logue as long as it is uneditying. same. recyded (tom many m movies and embarrassing here, suggests that Plurnmer's char- acter was added simpty because Gilliam and LaGraveneu didn't want to leave out anything. deemed, and a homeless person is a reasonable instrument for his recovery. But then he doesn't merely recover. he goes along for a manic flight through whimsy and invention, through slapstick and romance, through suspense and deathbed comebacks and Chinese dinners. until he finds himself in the position of the little old lady who had really rather not have been helped to cross the Jeff Bridges is as dependable an actor as there is. His problem in this plot is that it takes him on too wild a journey. His own story in the movie - sardonic radio talker sinks into depression after blaming himself for deaths - suggests that he will be re- best playing against type - against his own improvisational personality. When he does. as in the better scenes of Dead Poets Society or all of Awakenings, he is a master actor. When he is induiged. as he is hem, he over- They are. But he is also present at some of the movie's low points, in which a rush of verbal cleverness 'tsal?madforitsownsauimftiii, movie suffers. More than any other good actor new at work. Will tt needs strong guidelines to r his best performances. Perha he should Mart avoiding roles t are “made tor Robin Williams"', as this one is. He's Roger Ebert is an Amman film Choose "oi" our Mom Ch phone i day-ii»; tor your spoons! 1’73an one: Thane-tgt Worm celebrating um I Dairy Omen Cake or Log READ! to TAKE HOME Mmmmmm! 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