Tropic Sprockets / A Fish Called Wanda

By Ian Brockway

 “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988) directed by Charles Crichton is one of the most iconic comedies of all time. The story written by John Cleese of “Monty Python” is stellar. There are only a handful of films of this age that remain hysterically funny. This is certainly one of them.

The film won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

George (Tom Georgeson) is a slick British diamond thief, with a lusty girlfriend Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis). Employing their henchmen Ken (Michael Palin) and Otto (Kevin Kline), an egotistical weapons expert, they hatch a plan to rob a big diamond venue in London and make a getaway.

They manage, but Ken is beside himself. A dog was nearly run over. Ken ditches the cat burglar uniforms but George gets taken in by the police. 

Across town, Archie (John Cleese) is a timid but successful barrister in a hum-drum marriage.

Wanda, who supposedly wants to double-cross George, plies Archie with amorous charms to find the location of the diamonds. Though there is comedy in Archie’s condition, the scenes with Wanda have poignance, because Archie emerges as a real person who is clearly pained by his stifled life.

A jealous Otto pops up periodically like a jack in the box. With a leather jacket and with his fetish for smelling fabrics, he is a cartoon of Dennis Hopper in “Blue Velvet.” He is extremely pompous. Instead of saying “Don’t you F—ing look at me,” (as Hopper does) Otto frequently yells “don’t call me Stupid!”

A subplot involves the animal loving Ken hired to kill an aged lady who knows too much. Ken can’t bear to carry it out (although he tries) because his target has small Yorkies with her. The black humor in these scenes are without compare.

There is great fun too in watching Archie scheme to meet up with Wanda. Cleese is a master at portraying frenzied antics, coupled with the daze of shock. Expression is everything and his character, though a revisiting of Basil Fawlty in some ways, is decidedly different. Archie is no conniving monster but a very sensitive being.

Ken is very sensitive as well. Though the film makes discomfiting humor over stuttering, we see Ken beside Otto, who seems more absurd and the embarrassment vanishes. Ken emerges as a hero.

The scene with Archie and Ken is riotous and laugh out loud. It is so funny because it exposes the human and it is not played for meanness.

Although it is very much a cartoon, the film highlights the reality of its characters: the staid barrister wanting adventure, the assassin with a lack of esteem, an animal lover who deals with violence but abhors it, and the femme fatale who wants normalcy. These zany characters are grounded with an authenticity of spirit.

Such qualities are what makes “A Fish Called Wanda” such a wildly satisfying film that still holds up today.

“A Fish Called Wanda” is available on HBO, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and many other services for free or low-cost streaming.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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