This is an absolutely wonderful wacky movie, one of the funniest movies of the 1980s. It all has to do with a jewell heist and then some double crossings among the thieves, with a barrister (John Cleese)(it takes place in London) getting involved. The characters are what make the movie:
Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) - feisty, the brains of the outfit, she can talk herself around anything; she's turned on sexually by foreign languages.
Otto (Kevin Kline) - the dumbbell of the group who reads philosophy and practices martial arts; reads Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil" as if it were a CIA manual; so dumb he thought "The Gettysburgh Address" was where Lincoln lived.
Ken (Michael Palin) - has a terrible stutter and loves animals; spends the whole picture trying to kill an old woman who is a key witness only to wipe out her pet poodles one by one.
After all kinds of incredible and improbable twists and turns, the barrister wins Wanda and off they fly to Rio with the loot. Everything is perfect here - the dialogue, the subtle sight gags which are perfectly timed, and the held shots used to highlight the most humorous aspects. The movie's pacing is excellent. A total joy. Definitely worth a watch - and more.
A wonderful film to watch. The movie, which I first saw on TBS, was an instant hit in our household. The DVD was no different then when it was on TBS, but it had much more *language* than I first thought. And parts that were deleted when I was watching it on TV made the movie really come alive.
A few (actually a lot) of good things:
Amazing actors
Funny plot line
Great twists
The fish was beautiful (just kidding)
The booklet of funny stories
Then comes the bad:
Bad language
But other than that one thing, it was an oscar-worthy film. Many thanks to the film producers, directors, actors, and MGM for a masterpeice. A SUPERB film.
In other words, you must have this DVD for a movie collection to remeber an aged yet great film that will have you laughing for years to come.
John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, co-wrote the screenplay for this hilarious comedy caper along with director Charles Crichton, who also directed "The Lavender Hill Mob." Cleese is totally irreverent and has absolutely no clue as to the meaning of political correctness. Everyone and everything is a target for satire. Cleese also performs here one of the most side-splitting stripteases I have ever seen. I literally doubled-over with laughter!
A twenty million dollar jewelry heist is pulled off in London's Hatton Gardens by four eccentric misfits, two Brits and two Americans. George (Tom Georgeson) is the ringleader, the man who masterminded the theft. He is the only one who knows where the jewels are hidden. His partners in crime include animal lover, Ken Pile, (Michael Palin), a socially inept bumbler with a stuttering problem. He loves his goldfish, Wanda, (named for the movie's heroine), with the passion most attach to their significant other. Wanda Gershwitz, (Jamie Lee Curtis), is George's girlfriend, who uses her formidable seduction techniques to get what she wants, and she wants all the money! Wanda finagles to bring Otto West, (Kevin Kline), into the gang, telling the others he is her brother - although like most other men in the film, he is her lover. And Kline is brilliant as the manic, Nietzche-reading, ex-CIA agent and Anglophobe. He is a self-styled intellectual, but is so stupid that he thinks the London Underground is a political movement. As Wanda remarks, "He's so dumb he thought the Gettysburg Address was where Lincoln lived."
The ploys, dirty tricks and double-crosses Otto and Wanda use against their partners, to prevent their receiving a share of the loot, are classic. When George's lawyer, Archie, (John Cleese), falls in love with Wanda, her formidable skills at juggling men are seriously challenged. Cleese brings an endearing romantic touch to the smitten Archie. The situation grows more and more convoluted and the laughs build right along with the escalation. Otto is extremely jealous of any man who looks twice at Wanda, and obviously Archie takes more than two glimpses. Madcap madness!
I don't want to disclose any more of the plot here, but "A Fish Called Wanda" contains some of the funniest scenes I have viewed on film. Director Charles Crichton keeps the pace moving at a nice clip and the satire involving the cultural clash between the very proper, if somewhat stuffy English, versus the uncouth, aggressive Yanks is pure delight. At one point, Archie says to Wanda: "Do you have any idea what it's like to be English? We're all terrified by embarrassment. That's why we're all dead!"
This flaky farce is a must see! A definite 5 star film, I am rating this only 4 stars, however, because of the poor quality of the DVD. I advise renting the movie and waiting for the re-release before buying this comic masterpiece.
JANA.
This film is a piece of art. Every time I see it I find something new to laugh at.
This is not a Monty Python film, even if both John Cleese and Micahel Palin act in it.
The first time I saw it I was disappointed: was this it? Then I saw it a second time, and could not stop laughing. Other people, including my wife, have reported the same experience. It improves with time, and you cannot say that about many films!
The acting is superb. Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis even steal the film from Cleese and Palin, which is a feat in itself. Kline has reportedly claimed that it was his favourite performance.
I think that the viewer has to be prepared that the humour might be inspired by the classical Ealing comedies, which moved in a border between the bizarre and the realistic. It is not quite Monty Python, but it is not quite mainstream either. Just take the absolutely absurd characters played by Kline and Palin: they just could, barely, exist in real life.
The story and the characters are more complex than one would expect from an ordinary comedy, and it might also be a reason why it takes a few watchings before the laughter erupts. Then, on the other hand, it becomes one of the truly funniest film ever made.
based on 121 reviews
