![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A-Fish-Called-Wanda-PIC.jpg?resize=620%2C348&ssl=1\")
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A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong>\u00a0 (1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MGM\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 108 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, brief rear nudity, sexual content and references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Charles Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John Cleese and Charles Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Du Prez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Alan Hume\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 15, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken, Tom Georgeson, Patricia Hayes, Cynthia Caylor, Geoffrey Palmer, Roger Brierley, Llewelyn Rees, Stephen Fry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office $63.4 million (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Everybody has their idea of the funniest comedy ever made. Mine is A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong>, a hilarious caper about a jewel heist and its aftermath with everybody trying to steal the loot for himself (or herself). There truly is no honor among thieves as evidenced by all the double and triple-crossing going on here. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0I\u2019m not exaggerating when I say that I\u2019ve NEVER laughed so hard at a movie than I did (and still do) at A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong>. In one of those all-too-rare instances, everything comes together perfectly. Every scene is great and every line a classic. I still quote it to this day. Talk about a super-cast, this one stars John Cleese and Michael Palin (both of Monty Python fame), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) and, in an Oscar-winning turn, Kevin Kline (The Big Chill). OMG!!! His character, in my not-so-humble opinion, is among the greatest ever created for the big screen. He plays Otto, the weapons man who despises all things British and thinks himself an intellectual. He hates being called stupid proving that truthful words do hurt the most. He\u2019s a complete idiot! On top of that, he\u2019s also a total psycho. Lethal combo! Every one of his lines is pure gold. Every scene he\u2019s in is a riot. I love everything about A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong> (with one notable exception), but he\u2019s the absolute best part of the movie hands down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0It begins with a well-planned heist at a London diamond exchange. Led by gangster George (Georgeson, Notes on a Scandal), the team consists of right-hand man and animal enthusiast Ken (Palin), American con artist Wanda (Curtis) and, of course, Otto. Wanda and Otto pretend to be brother and sister when they are actually lovers. The robbery goes off without a hitch and all four parties go their separate ways. That\u2019s when the fun really starts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Otto and Wanda anonymously turn George in to the police and he\u2019s arrested. Defending him in court will be Archie Leach (Cleese), a super-reserved barrister with a less-than-idyllic personal life. His wife Wendy (Aitken, Half Moon Street) is \u2013for lack of a better term- a bitch that constantly brow-beats him. His teenage daughter Portia (real life daughter Cynthia) is a spoiled brat. It\u2019s no wonder he\u2019s so easily seduced by Wanda who wants him to get George to reveal where he moved the diamonds shortly before his arrest. While I\u2019m certain many of you have already seen this movie and know it well, I will say no more regarding the plot.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Among other things, Otto is an insanely jealous man even though he claims such a quality is for the weak. He keeps interrupting Wanda\u2019s attempts to seduce Archie, at one point dangling him upside down out a window in order to elicit an apology for calling him stupid. That\u2019s my favorite bit in the whole movie followed by Otto shouting \u201cA\u2014hole!\u201d at other drivers when it\u2019s he who\u2019s driving on the wrong side of the road. That\u2019s one of the quotes I still use. I could go on and on about Otto\u2019s finest moments, but that would defeat the purpose of my recommending the movie to those who have yet to see it. Let me instead discuss the thing I don\u2019t like about A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong>. There\u2019s a running gag involving little dogs getting killed in botched attempts on the life of an elderly woman that witnessed the gang\u2019s getaway. I\u2019m a dog lover and do NOT find that kind of thing funny. I\u2019m capable of laughing at jokes that are considered in bad taste, but animals being harmed or killed crosses a line. It\u2019s a personal thing and I don\u2019t expect everybody to share that feeling, but for me it\u2019s the one wrong note in an otherwise perfect movie.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Comedy is all about timing and director Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob) has a firm grasp on the concept. The comic timing in A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong> isn\u2019t just great, it\u2019s immaculate. And I have never seen a cast work this well together. They play perfectly off one another. The chemistry is magical. Cleese is a hoot as the repressed Englishman that slowly lets down his guard as he falls for Wanda. In one scene, he perfectly explains that thing that defines British society, the fear of saying something embarrassing or inappropriate. He really does make an awesome straight man. Curtis has never been better. She\u2019s funny, no doubt about it. She\u2019s also never been hotter! Man oh man, is she sexy in this movie. Her reaction when somebody speaks in a foreign language, priceless. Palin is very funny as animal-loving Ken. His character speaks with a bad stutter, something Otto endlessly mocks him for. In fact, Otto is just plain rotten to Ken. It\u2019s mean but funny.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0As for Kline, he richly deserved that Best Supporting Actor award. And who thought he had such a brilliant comedic performance in him? It\u2019s great to see him lighten up after such serious-minded films as Sophie\u2019s Choice and Cry Freedom. I\u2019m sorry to keep repeating myself but Otto is- in the vernacular of the younger generation- THE S**T!!!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0The Oscar-nominated screenplay by Cleese and Crichton (68 at the time) is top-drawer stuff! A lot happens, yet the narrative never becomes convoluted. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way to the madcap ending. I can\u2019t praise A Fish Called Wanda<\/strong> enough. And I knew it was going to be a great movie from the moment I first saw the trailer earlier that summer. I made it a point to see it opening day, first matinee. And the rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\r\n A Fish Called Wanda\u00a0 (1988)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MGM\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 108 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, violence, brief rear nudity, sexual content and references)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Charles Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: John Cleese and Charles Crichton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: John Du Prez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Alan Hume\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 15, 1988 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken, Tom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thats-some-funny-stuff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A-Fish-Called-Wanda-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":918,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A-Fish-Called-Wanda-POSTER.jpg?resize=620%2C930&ssl=1\")
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