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A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

7.0

This comedy caper by Monty Python star John Cleese brings absurd British humor to the fore

Movie

United Kingdom, United States of America
English, Italian, Russian
Comedy, Crime
1988

TLDR

This is possibly one of the few comedies a Boomer and a Gen Z will have no problem enjoying together.

What it's about

Barrister Archie Leach (John Cleese) gets mixed up in a gang of jewel thieves as they turn against each other, not least because of Wanda Gershwitz’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) femme fatale ways.

The take

As long as you don’t take it too seriously and see it for the silly ‘80s comedy that it is, then A Fish Called Wanda comes as a pleasantly hilarious way to pass the time. The heist doesn’t make much sense but the farce the characters put on is as delightfully silly as they come. There are traces of Cleese’s Monty Python sketch humor here, as you’ll see in the puns and the wild physical gags he makes, and Curtis proves that comedy is her true calling. But some of the best parts of the movie are when the British characters rib with the Americans—it’s a classic feud, one you won’t help but laugh at, regardless of where you’re coming from.

What stands out

Anytime someone does an accent, but especially when Cleese does a Midwest American one, is when you can expect to lose it.

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