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.
"To those who appreciate Ealing comedy (which is to say all right-thinking people), watching the film is like chancing on a Hogarth sketch in grandmother's attic, clearly and unmistakably signed by the Master."
— John Pym
"Though it is less tasteless, irreverent and satirical than the Python pics, film still is wacky and occasionally outrageous in its own, distinctly British way."
— Variety Staff
While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.
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.
Anytime someone does an accent, but especially when Cleese does a Midwest American one, is when you can expect to lose it.
This is possibly one of the few comedies a Boomer and a Gen Z will have no problem enjoying together.
Oscars
1 win, 2 nominations
Berlin
1 nomination
Golden Globes
3 nominations
BAFTA
2 wins, 7 nominations
DGA
1 nomination
WGA
1 nomination
