I saw this film when it first came out in the 1990s and remember being struck by the unusual topic (how to cope with someone who has mental illness) and the great performances by Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges. I watched it again for the first time in 20 years the other night and turned it off after 45 minutes. It was a dire, pretentious, shallow misfiring mess and in hindsight looks like little more than a vehicle for Williams to put in yet another one of his overly energetic "Look at me look at me!" performances and use lots of different voices and irritating facial expressions. What a disappointment.