Kevin Kline won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this movie, and rightly so! On top of the original story and memorable characters that make up the work of genius that is A Fish Called Wanda, the performances, Kline’s in particular, were nothing short of remarkable and highly, highly hysterical! This is a great film people!
Four thieves: Wanda, Otto, George, and Ken rob a jewellery store. Then Wanda and Otto, lovers, lead the police to George. But, unbeknown to Wanda and Otto, George has moved the booty and the key (literally) to finding it lies with Ken. Whilst Wanda charms George’s lawyer in an attempt to get information as to the location of the loot out of him, Otto tries desperately to get the better of Ken and not go berserk with jealousy as Wanda gets closer and closer to Archie, the lawyer.
Written by John Cleese, A Fish Called Wanda is a comedy classic that looks at crime and its perpetrators from a whole new angle. The characters are all memorable originals that are so wonderfully weird and eccentric it makes you ask, “how could they ever pull it off?”
Wanda, played beautifully by Jamie Lee Curtis is something of a femme fatal, an irresistible, charming woman who can seduce men into granting her every wish. Jamie’s performance was charming, seductive, and provided the film with some sort of organisation and control to balance against the total chaos and havoc that is caused by the other characters.
Otto, Wanda’s lover is a Nietzsche-quoting psychopath and Kevin Kline played him so awesomely. Earning the Oscar for Best Supporting actor, Kevin’s performance was protective, jealous, and just overall mad. Seriously, if you want to see a truly insane, but empowering and hysterical performance, watch Kevin Kline in this film. He was without a doubt the star of the show.
Archie the lawyer, played by John Cleese is probably the most complex character in the mix. Starting out as the good guy of the film, through his encounters with Wanda, he becomes seduced by the Dark Side and John delivered a performance that was confused, yearning, and wonderfully funny.
Finally we have Ken, close to a footnote in the story, but one of the more memorable characters, aside from Otto. Burdened with a severe stutter, Ken is a great lover of animals and much of the film’s central humour comes in the form of his attempts to assassinate the only witness to the jewel heist and, by near misses, killing all her dogs. Michael Palin plays Ken and his performance was nothing short of subdued genius.
Filled with action, romance, betrayal, manipulation, and plenty of comedy, A Fish Called Wanda is an instant classic, earning its rightful place in The Book. Watch this movie people, it’s a great film!
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