Today’s quick review: A Fish Called Wanda. A gang of four thieves pulls off a diamond heist, but their leader George is arrested. Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) makes plans with her lover Otto (Kevin Kline) to abscond with the diamonds, but finds that George moved the diamonds before his arrest. To find out where the loot is stashed, she attempts to seduce Archie (John Cleese), George’s lawyer. Meanwhile, Ken (Michael Palin), a man with a good heart and a bad stutter, is tasked with eliminating an old lady who saw George at the scene of the crime, a job that proves difficult for him to carry out.
A Fish Called Wanda is a skillful comedy with a colorful cast of characters. The humor derives from the characters’ larger-than-life personalities and their ill-fated attempts to double cross each other for the diamonds. Coincidences and hasty decisions abound, and soon nothing is going according to plan. Michael Palin pulls off a suitably pathetic Ken, who is used by Wanda, abused by Otto, and generally deprived of even the simple joys in life. Kevin Kline plays the bombastic Otto, a self-taught disciple of Nietzsche who wrongly considers himself the brains of the operation. John Cleese brings his typical humor to the role of a man whose quiet life is gradually dragged into chaos through his involvement with the gang. Jamie Lee Curtis rounds out the gang as the fickle Wanda, whose attempts to manipulate Archie do not go as smoothly as planned.
A Fish Called Wanda is a clever and entertaining movie with a memorable cast and an unpredictable plot. Fans of John Cleese or Jamie Lee Curtis should give it a watch, as should future fans of Kevin Kline and anyone who’s in the mood for a light comedy. 7.6 out of 10 on IMDB.