Do you want to see ‘A Fish Called Wanda’?

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 47
Fresh: 45 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 161,761

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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,

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Comedy

Directed By: John Cleese , Charles Crichton

Written By: John Cleese, Charles Crichton

In Theaters: Jul 15, 1988 Wide

On DVD: Jan 1, 1998

MGM

A Fish Called Wanda Trailer & Photos

Cast

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-Smith
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 Prosec...
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

Critic Reviews for A Fish Called Wanda

All Critics (47) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (2) | DVD (26)

Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Like many of the best English comedies, much of the humor here is based on character, good-natured high spirits, and fairly uninhibited vulgarity.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Though it is less tasteless, irreverent and satirical than the Python pics, film still is wacky and occasionally outrageous in its own, distinctly British way.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

It's not easy to describe the movie's accumulating dimness or to understand what went wrong.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comments (2)

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

It'll keep you amused enough to sit still and even remember it fondly. But it seems a light day's fishing for Messers Cleese and Palin.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

It's a deliciously dishy comedy, but like sushi an acquired taste.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

Top Critic

Crime caper with a wicked edge. Not for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Elliot Panek

Common Sense Media

Wacky farcical entertainment.

June 8, 2010 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's a comedy classic.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

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.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

If there's one thing that never gets old, it's the love/hate relationship we share with our neighbors over the pond, and Cleese's perfect comic concoction plays this out with side-splitting results.

March 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com

| Comment

Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

This fish is swimming with laugh-out-loud moments.

February 6, 2007 Full Review Source: FulvueDrive-in.com

| Comment

Chuck O'Leary

FulvueDrive-in.com

No pun intended, but all the stars aligned for this film. It was the perfect blend of British and American humor.

January 28, 2007 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures

| Comment

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

a black comedy with a heart, and I can tell you from experience that it just keeps getting better and better with each viewing.

November 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk

| Comment

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

it's the right time to watch A Fish Called Wanda, so it can finally get the quotable legacy it so richly deserves

November 18, 2006 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Pete Croatto

Filmcritic.com

If you haven't seen it yet, then this is the DVD to get (2006 Collector's Edition)

November 15, 2006 Comment

Staci Layne Wilson

Buzzine Magazine

It's the humor, the quick pace of the film and the hilarious performance put forth by Kline that ultimately carries this thing, with its tight ending making it all that much better.

August 11, 2006 Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium

| Comment

JoBlo

JoBlo's Movie Emporium

One of the funniest movies of the decade.

August 9, 2006 Comment

Rob Thomas

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

There's nothing deep, nothing ground-breaking, but it's a never-dull, tightly scripted yarn with some very funny gags.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Stephen Garrett

Time Out

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for A Fish Called Wanda

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Kevin Kline is one of my all time favorites and he shines alongside Cleese, Curtis and Palin in an all time classic comedy.

June 29, 2008

John Manard

Super Reviewer

Though A FISH CALLED WANDA is often makes a grand show of comic violence, nonsense, and obscene vulgarity, it is massively hysterical, unique, and ultimately likable. There have been films such as THE BLUES BROTHERS, SPACEBALLS, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE that gave my lungs a serious workout, but after

July 8, 2011

Alexander Diminiano

Super Reviewer

A Fish Called Wanda Quotes

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1. Wanda Gerschwitz: You think you're an intellectual don't you ape?
2. Otto West: Apes don't read philosophy!
3. Wanda Gerschwitz: Yes they do, they just don't understand it!
– Submitted by sean b (2 months ago)
1. Wanda Gerschwitz: Aristotle was NOT Belgian!
– Submitted by sean b (2 months ago)
1. Archie Leach: I Wendy- I Wanda- I wonder...
– Submitted by Maria O (2 months ago)
1. Otto West: Avoid the green ones. They're not ripe yet.
– Submitted by Maria O (2 months ago)
1. Ken: Otto t-t-tried to k-k-kiss me.
2. Wanda Gerschwitz: I thought he might.
– Submitted by Maria O (2 months ago)

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