Review of A Fish Called Wanda (1988) by Brett H — 11 Feb 2016

The oddly titled, A Fish Called Wanda is a hilarious caper comedy that features buffoons double-crossing each other over and over again and a stand-out, hysterical, and Oscar-winning performance from Kevin Kline who steals the movie! The film stars the aforementioned, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis who holds her own comedically, and two Monty Python alums: Michael Palin and John Cleese who are comedic gods, in my opinion! The story follows a group of criminals who pull off a bank heist and after the goods go missing, each criminal tries to decipher where they have been taken to and how to keep them all for themselves.

From there it is one of the zaniest crime comedies I've ever seen, thanks in large part to the script co-written by Cleese and the considerable talents of the cast who will do whatever it takes to get a laugh! The title derives from the Palin character who indeed has a pet fish named, Wanda, but to confuse matters more, Jamie Lee Curtis' name is also, Wanda and I didn't see a reason for writing it this way.

There are many classic lines and scenes (mostly involving Kevin Kline's character, Otto) including a unique torture scene where a character is being suffocated by a pear and French fries: this notorious scene actually led to the death of a Danish man who found the scene so funny, he went into cardiac arrest and passed away.

..he literally laughed himself to death. It truly is hysterical watching this film and you will find yourself laughing non-stop once the plot kicks into gear and possibly shaking your head in disbelief at the progression of the story! Animal lovers watch out for a running gag involving attempted assassination; that's just good stuff!