A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
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96% of critics liked it
(48 reviews) -
77% of users liked it
(161,761 ratings)
In A Fish Called Wanda, Jamie Lee Curtis plays an ambitious con artist who uses every ounce of her sexual wiles to obtain a fortune in jewels stolen by her gangster lover Tom Georgeson. First, she romances Georgeson's dimwitted but deadly henchman Kevin Kline (who won an Academy Award for his… More In A Fish Called Wanda, Jamie Lee Curtis plays an ambitious con artist who uses every ounce of her sexual wiles to obtain a fortune in jewels stolen by her gangster lover Tom Georgeson. First, she romances Georgeson's dimwitted but deadly henchman Kevin Kline (who won an Academy Award for his performance). Then, to clear the path for her getaway with Kline, Jamie woos Georgeson's starched-shirt attorney, John Cleese -- and it's Cleese whom she genuinely falls in love with. Michael Palin, Cleese's former Monty Python cohort, plays a stuttering mob flunkey who continually messes up his one big assignment: killing a little old lady (it isn't that he has any qualms about knocking off the old dear; it's just that her pet dogs keep getting in the way). A Fish Called Wanda was scripted by star John Cleese. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- John Cleese, Charles Crichton
- Written By
- John Cleese, Charles Crichton
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Jul 15, 1988 Wide
- Studio
- MGM
Critic Reviews
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Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Like many of the best English comedies, much of the humor here is based on character, good-natured high spirits, and fairly uninhibited vulgarity.
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Variety Staff, Variety
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.
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Stephen Garrett, Time Out
There's nothing deep, nothing ground-breaking, but it's a never-dull, tightly scripted yarn with some very funny gags.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
It's not easy to describe the movie's accumulating dimness or to understand what went wrong.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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John Cleese
as Archie Leach
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Jamie Lee Curtis
as Wanda Gerschwitz
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Kevin Kline
as Otto West
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Michael Palin
as Ken
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Tom Georgeson
as George
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Maria Aitken
as Wendy Leach
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Patricia Hayes
as Mrs. Coady
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Al Ashton
as Warder
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Kim Barclay
as Nanny
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Cynthia Caylor
as Portia
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Jeremy Child
as Mr. Johnson
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Charu Bala Chokshi
as Indian Cleaner
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Mark Elwes
as Shop Customer
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Stephen Fry
as Hutchison
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Roger Hume
as Locksmith
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Peter Jonfield
as Inspector Marvin
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Andrew MacLachlan
as Eebedee
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Robert McBain
as Hotel Clerk
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Pamela Miles
as Mrs. Johnson
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Patrick Newman
as Defense Counsel
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Geoffrey Palmer
as Judge
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Michael Percival
as Percival
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Neville Phillips
as Shop Manager
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Llewellyn Rees
as Sir Jake
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John Dixon
as Prison Officer
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Imogen Bickford-Smith
as Stenographer
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Roger Brierley
as Davidson
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Robert Cavendish
as Copper
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Waydon Croft
as Prison Officer
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Katherine John
as Johnson Child 10
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Sophie Johnstone
as Johnson Child
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Kate Lansbury
as Magistrate
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Tia Lee
as Junior Barrister Prosecution Counsel
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Roland MacLeod
as Vicar
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Clare McIntyre
as Airline Employee
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Anthony Pedley
as Irate Driver
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Robert Putt
as Police Officer
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David Simeon
as Court Clerk
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Tom Piggot-Smith
as Johnson Child 13
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Sharon Twomey
as Defense Counsel
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Ken Hudson Campbell
as Bartlett



