杰克（杰夫·布里吉斯 Jeff Bridges 饰）曾是一名电台主持人，一次意外中，他的不当言辞导致了了一个名为埃德温（克里斯蒂安·克莱门松 Christian Clemenson 饰）的男人精神崩溃举枪乱射，酿成了多人伤亡的惨痛后果，心中充满内疚和痛苦的杰克从此陷入了人生的低谷无法自拔。 杰克结识了名为帕里（罗宾·威廉斯 Robin Williams 饰）的流浪汉，令杰克没有想到的是，竟然是自己造成了帕里的疯疯癫癫。原来，帕里曾是一名学富五车的教授，他的妻子正是埃德温枪下的冤魂，帕里无法承受失去妻子的痛苦，发了疯。为了弥补自己的过失，杰克决定帮助帕里。最终，杰克不仅撮合了帕里和女秘书莉迪亚（阿曼达·普拉莫 Amanda Plummer 饰），还成功的令帕里恢复了理智。
Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges), a cynical, arrogant shock jock talk radio host, becomes suicidally despondent after his insensitive on-air comments inadvertently prompt a depressed caller to commit multiple murders at a popular Manhattan bar. Three years later, while heavily intoxicated and depressed, he attempts suicide. Before he can do so, he is mistaken for a homeless person and is attacked and nearly set on fire by ruffians. He is rescued by Parry (Robin Williams), a deluded homeless man who is on a mission to find the Holy Grail, and tries to convince Jack to help him. Jack is initially reluctant, but comes to feel responsible for Parry when he learns that the man's condition is a result of witnessing his wife's horrific murder at the hands of Jack's psychotic caller. Parry is also continually haunted by a hallucinatory Red Knight, who terrifies him whenever he shows any confidence.
Jack learns that Parry had slipped into a catatonic state following his wife's death and had remained there for a few years. When he emerged he seemed obsessed with the tale of the legend of the Fisher King, a form of which Parry recounts to Jack. The legend varies, but all iterations possess three elements: the Fisher King was charged by God with guarding the Holy Grail, but later incurred some form of incapacitating physical punishment for his sin of pride, and had to wait for someone to deliver him from his suffering. A simpleminded knight named Percival, referred to in the movie as "The Fool", healed the wounds with kindness to the king, asking him why he suffers and giving him a cup of water to drink. The king realizes the cup is the grail and is baffled that the boy found it, as demonstrated in the closing exchange: "I've sent my brightest and bravest men to search for this. How did you find it?" The Fool laughed and said "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty." Echoes of the legend recur throughout the film, but in a continually shifting manner, so that it sometimes appears that Lucas is Percival to Parry's Fisher King, sometimes vice versa, and sometimes that one or the other is re-enacting part of the story with another character (most obviously in Parry's self-assigned quest to obtain the Grail from the man he believes is its guardian).
Jack seeks to redeem himself and help Parry find the Grail and find love again. Jack sets Parry up with a woman Parry has been smitten with from afar, Lydia, a shy woman who works as an accountant for a Manhattan publishing house. Jack successfully introduces them to each other and sets up an equally successful dinner date (Jack and his strong-willed girlfriend, Anne, join them). Following dinner, Parry declares his love for Lydia but is once again haunted by the Red Knight. Parry tries to escape his hallucinatory tormentor but is attacked by the very thugs from whom he had earlier rescued Jack. The beating is not fatal but causes Parry to become catatonic again.
Jack promises to find the Grail for Parry. He infiltrates the Upper East Side castle of a famous architect and retrieves the "Grail", a simple trophy. When he brings it to Parry, the catatonia is broken and Parry regains consciousness. While he and Jack lead the patients of the mental ward in a rousing rendition of "How About You?", Parry is reunited with Lydia and Jack (who had earlier broken up with Anne for dubious reasons) reunites with his love as well.
获奖情况
第64届奥斯卡金像奖 (1992)
最佳男主角(提名) 罗宾·威廉姆斯
最佳女配角 梅塞迪丝·鲁尔
最佳原创剧本(提名) 理查德·拉·格拉文斯
最佳艺术指导(提名) Cindy Carr / Mel Bourne
最佳原创配乐(提名) 乔治·芬顿
第48届威尼斯电影节 (1991)
主竞赛单元 金狮奖 (提名) 特瑞·吉列姆
银狮奖 最佳影片 特瑞·吉列姆
小金狮奖 特瑞·吉列姆
