Movie review: ‘A Fish Called Wanda’

FloridaGator80

I enjoy both caper films as well as having a true, deep appreciation for the humor from the Monty Python comedy troupe. Well, both come together in the now-classic film “A Fish Called Wanda” … and this sensational film is made more sensational because it includes Jamie Lee Curtis! Here’s an Oscar-winning film that isn’t slapstick comedy (but has it) and it offers a somewhat intricate plot that has a thread of a psychotic American, who’s a fish out of water in London (pun intended). You actually have to follow the storyline in “A Fish Called Wanda” to experience the full effect of the film. So, it’s a comedy that isn’t just mind candy.

‘A Fish Called Wanda’
(1988; 108 minutes; rated R; directed by Charles Crichton and starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin)

EVERYONE LOVES ‘WANDA’ IN ‘WANDA’

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on Dec. 5, 2025.)

It’s not easy to blend two great forms of cinema, but, in “A Fish Called Wanda,” you’ll find a prime example of a caper film that is infused with and is energized by Monty Python-esque comedy. The comedy is the blood in the body of the film, while the somewhat intricate story is the soul – and, yes, a person really died of laughter at a screening of the film.

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“A Fish Called Wanda” is an Oscar-winning caper film with a bunch of double-crossing crooks. The gang is ready to double-cross each other from even before the execution of the jewel heist that is the foundation of the film. Once the heist happens, then a grenade is in the closet and the separate parts begin to go their own way.

The presentation of the humor is “British” … that is, it is often subtle, but not always (just take when a character hangs another out upside down and out a window). While today you’d find too much CGI that is used to make every scene an “event,” you’ll not see that in “A Fish Called Wanda.” Best is that you’ll find Monty Python veterans driving the humor and the story and some basic stunt work (such as a crate crushing a dog – and, no, animals were not harmed in making the film) but nothing in way of CGI spectaculars.

“A Fish Called Wanda” is the work of director Charles Crichton and star John Cleese, of Monty Python fame. The duo came up with the idea for the film and wrote it together over 2½ years beginning in 1983, according to Wiki. What they developed is just sensational and has been awarded being one of Britain’s best-ever comedies.

Unfortunately, it takes a little too much glee in criticizing what it shows as a “typical” American … either the ready to double-cross at an instant Jamie Lee Curtis or the congenitally violent, totally paranoid-psychotic Kevin Kline, who is everything negative in how folks in Great Britain (and elsewhere) perceive folks from the United States. Still, as a citizen of the U.S., I say that it is obvious that the movie is hilarious and, so, I’m not offended.

Back to the story …

The gang hangs together because of the ultimate double-cross: The leader of the gang has hidden the loot and only he knows the location of the diamonds … and this is after two characters turn in the leader and then, as one of the two prepares to knock-out the other, they realize everyone’s been taken by the leader’s plot.

The gang has one problem: Kline as “Otto West.” He’s the manic, extreme paranoid boyfriend of Curtis, who plays “Wanda Gershowitz,” and he’s a total psychotic. Just about everyone knows they can’t trust Kline, who tells everyone he is “Wanda’s” brother, but he’s part of the gang and, besides, he just keeps a very close watch on everyone – especially Curtis – because of his raging paranoia.

Along the way, Curtis falls in love with the leader’s barrister John Cleese as “Archie Leach” (more on the character’s name later) and so turns the drama dial for the gang. Oh, in England, they have lawyers, but they’re called barristers and solicitors. Barristers are the equivalent of litigators in the U.S.

The best supporting actor is Michael Palin as the stuttering “Ken Pile,” who draws the severe ire and bullying of Kline and the most long-suffering is the elderly lady who is the only witness to the crime and experiences each of her three dogs being accidentally killed by “Ken” as he tries to kill her.

Ah, well, you have to watch the flick to understand all the nuances and I haven’t done a very thorough job of describing it. In any case, let’s get to a look at some of the main cast …

  • Cleese was nominated for an Oscar for being co-writer of “A Fish Called Wanda,” but did not win because the best do not always win. He plays the English “everyman” to perfection – he has class, but he is not hoity-toity; he is smart without bragging about it; he tries too hard to be everything to everyone; and he just exudes being “British.” Absolutely no other actor could convey the role of “Archie Leach” as well. Cleese is a Primetime Emmy winner and three-time nominee (winning for an episode of “Cheers” and nominated for an episode of “Will & Grace”). He won two BAFTA awards (the British Oscars) and has four other nominations – and one of his wins is for “A Fish Called Wanda.” As of 2022, Cleese has seven projects either announced, pre-production, in production or finished. I’d say Cleese is a legendary performer and writer in his own regard! Just look at “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
  • A Primetime Emmy winner, Curtis was nominated for a BAFTA for “A Fish Called Wanda” and won for “Trading Places” (click here to read my review) and is simply fun to watch as she sails through this one, being the target of affection of both “Otto” and “George,” although the latter does not know that Kline isn’t her “brother.” Curtis appears to be having fun throughout and manages to avoid the others seeing that she was going to betray all of them and make off with the diamonds by herself. Of course, Curtis made her mark in John Carpenter’s horror classic “Halloween” (click here to read my review) and “Trading Places” remains a classic, too. She’s also an action star with her great effort in “True Lies” with Arnold Schwarzenegger (click here to read my review). Her other “Scream Queen” horror efforts include “Prom Night” (click here to read my review) and “Terror Train” (click here to read my review) and she was in TV’s “Operation Petticoat,” which was adapted from a film featuring her father, Tony Curtis (click here to read my review of the original movie, which was released when Jamie Lee was 1-year-old). Best yet, she was on an episode of the wonderfully kitschy TV series “The Love Boat” with her mother, Janet Leigh of “Psycho” fame (click here for my look at the series).
  • Kline won his only Oscar playing “Otto” and his work in the film deserved the honor. He appeared so immersed in the role that I might have steered clear of him in real life for a couple of years after “A Fish Called Wanda” was released. He is manic; unable to keep still for even a moment; hates the British; and even drives like a maniac. Kline pops in and out of scenes with regularity – usually after spying on other characters through a window. You simply have to see his performance to truly appreciate it. I really enjoyed Kline as the co-star of “Dave” (click here to read my review), in which he plays both the president and a presidential impostor and he was also solid in the classic western “Silverado” (click here to read my review), but not so much in the execrable “Wild Wild West” with Will Smith (click here to read my review) and taken from the hit TV series. He was also a key player in the ensemble-cast flick “The Big Chill.”
  • A two-time winner and two-time nominee for BAFTA awards, Palin plays “Ken” to stuttering perfection. For those concerned, Palin has a family member who stutters and he used his personal experience to craft the character. Palin, like Cleese, is just so good that it is sometimes difficult to remember that how he manages his screen time takes serious talent and effort. Palin won one of his BAFTAs for “A Fish Called Wanda” and it was richly deserved. You won’t find a milder character who would try to kill an old lady eyewitness, but be totally horrified when he accidentally kills each of her dogs (she finally keels over from a heart attack when the third attempt goes awry). Of course, both Palin was with Cleese in the iconic, seminal and classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
  • Tom Georgeson as “George Thomason” is the only one of two actors without any comedy to offer in the film. He plays the uptight, paranoid-in-his-own-right Englishman to understated perfection. He’s as suspicious about Kline as Kline is about him. Georgeson does a wonderful job being the straight man in the cast and has his best scene near the end when Curtis double-crosses him in court. He has notched more than 100 acting credits into 2022, with most being his work in television, including a number of episodes of “Doctor Who.”
  • Maria Aitken, a native of Ireland playing an upper-crust English wife, is the next-best actor playing straight to everyone else’s comedy. Aitken does a superior job of being snooty, aggrieved by the pampered life she leads and in the end bursts forth with emotion from a previously emotionless character. All-in-all, a wonderful job and she was nominated for a BAFTA award for the effort.

I’m not spending any time on other solid supporting actors such as Cynthia Cleese, who is John Cleese’s daughter in real life and plays his fictional daughter “Portia” in the film and is credited as Cynthia Caylor. Another is the late Patricia Hayes as “Eileen Coady,” who is the elderly witness against “George” and whose dogs meet unusual fates as Palin tries to kill her.

“A Fish Called Wanda” moves smoothly from scene to scene, with the excellent comedic chaos usually sparked by Kline or Palin. From the subplot of Palin trying to kill the elderly witness and the ultimate doom of each of her dogs to Kline eating alive all the fish out of Palin’s aquarium, the movie surprises at every turn … but with class and not relying on disgusting humor such as you’ll find in “Dirty Grandpa” with Robert De Niro (click here to read my review).

Each character’s passion for “Wanda” is played out perfectly and each has his own reason for the attraction and there’s absolutely no question that she’s worthy of the attention from each … then she discards her passion for Kline and discovers that she’s totally enthralled (for real) with Cleese.

The film closes out with Kline getting his comeuppance (although he does quickly re-surface and you see him peeking in the window at Cleese and Curtis as their jet takes off); Cleese and Curtis off in romantic bliss (I’ll leave you to watch the end credits to see what happens to each); and Palin has stopped stuttering.

A successor to “A Fish Called Wanda” was made called “Fierce Creatures,” but it isn’t anywhere near the creativity or excellence of the original and isn’t really worth watching, even though most of the original cast is in the second one. The original began, according to Wiki, with an idea from Cleese about a stuttering criminal who is asked to explain details of the crime.

Too bad that more of the “creative” set can’t bring ideas to the wonderful peak of both comedic and cinematic excellence that you have with “A Fish Called Wanda.”

“A Fish Called Wanda” was ranked 11th at the U.S. box office in 1988 with $62.4 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The No. 1 film was (sadly) “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” with $156.4 million and the top 10 was studded with great films including “Coming to America” at No. 2 with $128.1 million, “Die Hard” at No. 7 with $83 million (click here to read my review), “Good Morning Vietnam” at No. 3 with $122.2 million and the Tom Hanks comedy classic “Big” at No. 4 with $114.9 million. Here are the films from that year that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Cleese’s middle name is Marwood and is 6-foot-5; and Aitken’s full name is Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken.
  • The most interesting piece of trivia for the film, in my opinion, is that Cleese’s character has the name of Cary Grant’s birth name: Archibald Leach. Cleese reportedly wanted it as an homage to the screen legend.
  • Cleese had Jamie Lee’s name on “call sheets” as “Jamie Lee Schwartz” because her father, legendary actor in his own right Tony Curtis, had the birth name of Bernard Herschel Schwartz.
  • No fish were harmed in making the film. Kline reportedly offered to eat live fish, but the producers said “no” and fake fish made of Jell-O were used.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Sir Michael Palin‘s father stuttered, so Palin used a lot of his real-life experience when playing Ken Pile, including the fact that Ken’s stutter is less pronounced around people he trusts (George Thomason and Wanda Gershwitz) and worse around people with whom he is uncomfortable (Otto West).”
  • A person attending a screening of “A Fish Called Wanda” actually laughed himself to death during the film. Directly from IMDb.com: “In 1989, when this movie was shown in theaters in Denmark, a Danish man named Ole Bentzen, an audiologist, literally laughed himself to death during the scene where Ken Pile (Sir Michael Palin) gets the chips up his nose. Bentzen’s heart rate went between two hundred fifty and five hundred beats per minute and he eventually succumbed to cardiac arrest.”
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “For the French-dubbed version, when Wanda states that Otto mistook the Gettysburg Address for Lincoln’s residence, it was replaced with Wanda stating that Otto mistook General Motors for a hero of the war of ’14.”
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s extensive trivia page about the film …

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