“What would Plato do?” Wanda asks Otto after the severalth time he’s lost control and gone and done something stupid. He would apologise. So would the aggressive Buddhist monks, and so would the apes, if only they could understand the philosophy that they enjoy reading. And as Otto is a man of Nietzsche, he should take all this into consideration before making his next move. Could A Fish Called Wanda have been written by anyone but John Cleese? I doubt it.

A diamond heist, a sexy manipulator, a stuttering animal lover, an aggressive idiot, a British barrister and an elderly woman with three Yorkshire terriers. That’s what it takes for Cleese’s darkest and cleverest funny side to be displayed in all its glory. He combines the typically British awkwardness with absurd situations, hilarious dialogue and a Mamet-like chase game that is pure pleasure to follow. He gets every one of his characters into the biggest personal and universal mess and watches them untangle, while adding rare, unexpected touches, like a cheesy romantic music score or a bizarre torture scene.

T his is how elements of every genre can be traced in A Fish Called Wanda – which greatly adds to the credibility of an incredible story. The plot is tight and every single action takes this mad mess somewhere even funnier and weirder… not to mention, darker. Charles Crichton and John Cleese deliver a film that is crazy but knows better than to completely surrender to its chaos. It takes very specific steps forward and proves to know where it’s going. For a comedian of Cleese’s farcicality level, this should be surprising, but it’s not. The same way that Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life or every episode of Fawlty Towers goes insane but comes back to tighten all loose ends, here, John Cleese reminds us that great comedy should have the guts to lose control, but the respect to somehow tidy up afterwards.

Jamie Lee Curtis, as the woman called Wanda, is a million characters in one. She’s able to fall and cheat, to steal and share, to break and be broken. She’s the woman behind the plan and in front of it; every character’s ultimate trophy and for better or for worse, the smartest in the crew. Michael Palin’s K-K-K-Ken is suffocating in his own love for animals. And it seems as though until he lets go of his principles, he’s going to be suffering as a result of them. Kevin Kline’s American-Italian Otto has got it all wrong. Aristotle wasn’t Belgian and Ken is perfectly capable of killing an elderly woman and her three dogs. As a matter of fact, he’s delighted to.

And John Cleese’s Archie… Archie Leach. The barrister assigned the group’s defense. Aren’t you –standing naked in our apartment covering your parts with my picture frame—the man who bought our house in Lissendon Gardens? Em… Yes, it would appear so. “What a coincidence. How nice to see you”. And what an extraordinary way to mock every English flaw. Archie’s character never gets shy, but keeps going and pushing, making fun of every little quirk of his culture, from the uptight, bored and frustrated housewife –for a good reason, as Sanderson’s have sent the wrong flowers– to the possibility of asking one how his children are doing, only to find out they were burned down on Wednesday. Being English is tough –as you never know when embarrassment or a breakdown might hit you.

Charles Crichton’s and John Cleese’s film is one of the best comedies to come out of the 80’s. Insane, but with a purpose and destination –A Fish Called Wanda mocks absolutely everything. From different film genre clichés, to cultures and accents, sexual fetishes, preppiness and superiority, boredom and self-righteousness, philosophy-masked stupidity, other similar inferiority complexes, and of course… its own self.

External links

A Fish Called Wanda at IMDb

A Fish Called Wanda at Wikipedia

A Fish Called Wanda (awards won and nominated for) at IMDb