Talk about an all-time classic! A Fish Called Wanda is one of the best heist movies of the 80s and the fact it is also a comedy makes it a rather unique kind of movie. While searching through Amazon Prime for something to watch, this popped up and I had not seen or even thought about it in years so I decided to give it a watch. It was a lot of fun too as I had forgotten a great deal about the plot.
How to Download A Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda was released on July 15, 1988. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like heist movies, check out also Gone in 60 Seconds or Ocean’s Eleven.
The Movie Review
I am very happy to say that A Fish Called Wanda holds up very, very well. I will also say that despite being a comedy, this is the kind of movie that you have to give your full attention to. There is a lot going on with the plot here and if you are screwing around on your phone or not paying proper attention, you are doing the movie and yourself a huge disservice!
A Stellar Cast of Characters
We have a great core cast of characters here. We have a group of four crooks in the UK who are planning an epic diamond heist that will see them get millions of pounds. We have Geroge who is played by Tom Georgeson and his girlfriend, Wanda, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. They also have a friend called Ken (Michael Palin) and Wanda has another “friend” called Otto (Kevin Kline) who is secretly her lover.
A Comedy of Betrayals
These crooks are hilarious and there are about a million different backstabbing/betrayals going on with them all as they all want the riches for themselves. Throw into the mix a very “British” barrister played by John Cleese and you have an awesome ensemble cast that makes one crazy or terrible decision after another. This is one of those movies where you never know what is going to happen next!
Memorable Performances
Wanda is one of the best roles of Jamie Lee Curtis’s career, but my favorite character has to be Otto! The way Otto is able to charm Wanda and the rather interesting attraction he has to his own smell is hilarious. The ending sequence legit had me laughing so hard as it is just so absurd and I loved the way that we got a little bit at the end tidying things up and letting us know what these characters got up to.
Rediscovering a Classic
I am glad that I had forgotten a great deal of what went down in A Fish Called Wanda and as a result, much of it felt new again. Even when something did come to mind that I remembered, when it happened it still made me laugh or at the very least chuckle. The comedic timing of the cast is just superb. I am kind of mad at myself for not having a physical version of this in my collection for all these years, I will have to get it soon!
Beware of the Sequel
The only bad thing I will say about A Fish Called Wanda is that I had such a great time with this, I watched Fierce Creatures the next night and that movie was not good. It is some kind of weird sequel-type thing that is not actually a sequel, but something else. It is trying way too hard to be weird and I did not like it at all. My advice is to watch A Fish Called Wanda, but stay clear of Fierce Creatures.
