Perhaps the most unusual aspect of what is surely the year's most original and daring comedy is that John Cleese is not the funniest performer in it. Believe it or not, that honor goes to none other than the usually somber Kevin Kline.
A Fish Called Wanda
A tale of murder, lust, greed, revenge, and seafood.
1988 · 1h 49m · R
Comedy, Crime
Directed by
Charles Crichton
Overview
While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.
Director and cast
- Charles Crichton Director
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Wanda Gershwitz
- John Cleese as Archie Leach
- Kevin Kline as Otto
- Michael Palin as Ken Pile
- Maria Aitken as Wendy
- Tom Georgeson as Georges Thomason
- Cynthia Cleese as Portia
- Patricia Hayes as Mrs. Coady
- Geoffrey Palmer as Judge
- Mark Elwes as Customer in Jeweler's Shop
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Somehow, the movie manages to do the impossible: It makes John Cleese less than hilarious.
Low comedy at high speed, it pretends to be a caper movie about a smooth London jewel heist and its infinitely complex aftermath. Actually, it's a smart farce about ingrained cultural differences.
The movie's basic joke holds that the overbearing, unselfconscious Americans will do anything and say anything (and usually as loudly as possible), while the timorous British are nearly too polite to breathe.
Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition.
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