A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 59
Fresh: 55 | Rotten: 4
Smartly written, smoothly directed, and solidly cast, A Fish Called Wanda offers a classic example of a brainy comedy with widespread appeal.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 2
Smartly written, smoothly directed, and solidly cast, A Fish Called Wanda offers a classic example of a brainy comedy with widespread appeal.
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 179,337
Movie Info
In A Fish Called Wanda, Jamie Lee Curtis plays an ambitious con artist who uses every ounce of her sexual wiles to obtain a fortune in jewels stolen by her gangster lover Tom Georgeson. First, she romances Georgeson's dimwitted but deadly henchman Kevin Kline (who won an Academy Award for his performance). Then, to clear the path for her getaway with Kline, Jamie woos Georgeson's starched-shirt attorney, John Cleese -- and it's Cleese whom she genuinely falls in love with. Michael Palin,
Jul 15, 1988 Wide
Jan 1, 1998
MGM
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Cast
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John Cleese
Archie Leach -
Jamie Lee Curtis
Wanda Gerschwitz -
Kevin Kline
Otto West -
Michael Palin
Ken -
Tom Georgeson
George -
Maria Aitken
Wendy Leach -
Patricia Hayes
Mrs. Coady -
Al Ashton
Warder -
Kim Barclay
Nanny -
Cynthia Caylor
Portia -
Jeremy Child
Mr. Johnson -
Charu Bala Chokshi
Indian Cleaner -
Mark Elwes
Shop Customer -
Stephen Fry
Hutchison -
Roger Hume
Locksmith -
Peter Jonfield
Inspector Marvin -
Andrew MacLachlan
Eebedee -
Robert McBain
Hotel Clerk -
Pamela Miles
Mrs. Johnson -
Patrick Newman
Defense Counsel -
Geoffrey Palmer
Judge -
Michael Percival
Percival -
Neville Phillips
Shop Manager -
Llewellyn Rees
Sir Jake -
John Dixon
Prison Officer -
Imogen Bickford-Smit...
Stenographer -
Roger Brierley
Davidson -
Robert Cavendish
Copper -
Waydon Croft
Prison Officer -
Katherine John
Johnson Child 10 -
Sophie Johnstone
Johnson Child -
Kate Lansbury
Magistrate -
Tia Lee
Junior Barrister Pro... -
Roland MacLeod
Vicar -
Clare McIntyre
Airline Employee -
Anthony Pedley
Irate Driver -
Robert Putt
Police Officer -
David Simeon
Court Clerk -
Tom Piggot-Smith
Johnson Child 13 -
Sharon Twomey
Defense Counsel -
Ken Hudson Campbell
Bartlett
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All Critics (59) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (4) | DVD (26)
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.
Top CriticSomehow, 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.
Like many of the best English comedies, much of the humor here is based on character, good-natured high spirits, and fairly uninhibited vulgarity.
A Fish Called Wanda is vintage black comedy, British-style -- a cruel, dastardly, down-and-dirty jewel-robbery romp that pits thief against thief, while entangling an innocent bystander in the web of greed, romance and decidedly cockeyed high jinks.
Cleese's cracking script gives it a solid foundation, but it's the supporting cast who make this movie wanda-ful.
Putting heart and heat into a film that could have easily slid by on silliness, Cleese proves himself a master actor.
As in most of his Python parts... Cleese's character is an extended riff on the concept of pomposity. But Archie is more leavened with humanity than any of his other roles.
This hilarious tale of criminal incompetence and transatlantic eccentricity is easily John Cleese's finest achievement since Fawlty Towers.
There are a few hilarious moments, and a few more that are foolish and even disgusting.
A Fish Called Wanda is at its most electric when it pits Cleese and Kline against each other.
Kevin Kline won the Supporting Actor Oscar for this funny and enjoyable farce, based on original script by John Cleese and Charles Crichton
Crime caper with a wicked edge. Not for kids.
Wacky farcical entertainment.
It's a comedy classic.
Although filled with clever twists and double-crosses, the film's storyline is less important than the opportunities it gives the actors to exploit their goofy characterizations.
This fish is swimming with laugh-out-loud moments.
Audience Reviews for A Fish Called Wanda
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Super Reviewer
Movies Like A Fish Called Wanda
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- Wanda Gerschwitz: Let me correct you on a couple of things, okay? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not every man for himself.
- Otto West: You read...
- Wanda Gerschwitz: The London Underground is not a political movement. Those are mistakes. I Iooked 'em up.
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- Otto West: Don't call me stupid.
- Wanda Gerschwitz: Right because calling you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!
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- Otto West: Asshole!
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- Otto West: What was the Middle part?
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- Wanda Gerschwitz: You think you're an intellectual don't you ape?
- Otto West: Apes don't read philosophy!
- Wanda Gerschwitz: Yes they do, they just don't understand it!
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- Wanda Gerschwitz: Aristotle was NOT Belgian!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| This was a good film but certainly not better than the holy grail and life of brian | 4 months ago | 2 |
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Latest News on A Fish Called Wanda
January 19, 2009:
John Cleese Preps Fish Called Wanda MusicalHe's talked about doing it before, but it appears that John Cleese has finally gotten around to...
October 1, 2008:
EW Looks Back on 30 Unforgettable Nude ScenesThe MPAA doesn't like it, but America has never been able to get enough of naked people on the big...
June 17, 2008:
A Fish Called Wanda: The Musical?John Cleese has announced plans to put together a musical version of his classic film A Fish Called...
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Foreign Titles
- Ein Fisch namens Wanda (DE)
- Un poisson nommé Wanda (FR)
