Directed by
Charles Crichton
Cast:
John Cleese …. Archie Leach
Jamie Lee Curtis …. Wanda Gershwitz
Kevin Kline …. Otto
Michael Palin …. Ken Pile
Maria Aitken …. Wendy
Tom Georgeson …. Georges Thomason
Patricia Hayes …. Mrs. Coady
Perhaps for all involved in its cast, A Fish Called Wanda may represent the high watermark for each of their respective careers. This may be difficult to believe considering how Michael Palin and John Cleese are both in Monty Python and the Holy Grail which may be the greatest Comedy of all time, Kevin Kline has films such as The Big Chill and The Ice Storm on his resume, and Jamie Lee Curtis has been in Slasher bench-setter Halloween and the amazing espionage thriller The Tailor of Panama. Then again, to see A Fish Called Wanda is to see each of them working at a level that none of them have ever worked at before or since.
First up is Cleese as Archie Leach, a mediocre lawyer in a bad marriage, tired of his day-to-day life. He’s tied down by his routine-of-a-job going nowhere he wants and a wife that doesn’t really want him. For Cleese, this is a role where his usual air of superiority is no where to be seen. This is a working class man, being beaten down by all around him, crushing his hopes and dreams. There’s a vulnerability and humanity I’ve never seen from him before. Then one day a girl walks up named Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis), gorgeous and innocent-looking, making him feel as free as he ever has, giving him new purpose.
Wanda, of course, is completely playing leach, as she’s actually the lover of one of Archie’s defendants – trying to pump the poor barrister for information on 20 million pounds (that’s English pounds) worth of jewels. Along with her accomplice Otto (Kevin Kline), the duo does what they can get the skinny on the jewels before Archie’s client goes up the river, and they end up with nothing. Only is Wanda actually playing Archie for a fool, or is she really falling for him?
Added to the mix is Ken (Michael Palin), a stuttering criminal with a deep love for animals, who spends most of the film trying to knock off an elderly witness in the case. Palin’s hijinks in this picture are hysterical, as he keeps accidentally knocking off the witness’ small dogs instead of the old woman herself in the most cartoonish ways. His stutter is also used to the comic hilt as scenes with Kline and Cleese will have you dying with laughter.
Director Charles Crichton, a veteran of the British film industry since the 1940’s, gives the four leads in this film all the room they need to work, using different combinations of the four to accentuate different performances at specific times. The direction in the film is subtle, but brilliant as A Fish Called Wanda never gives away what a small budget picture it actually is because you’re so intent on watching these actors do their thing. The film is reminiscent of the type of comedies the director was making in the 1950’s and was a terrific swan song for Crichton as he received Best Director nominations from The Directors Guild of America, The Academy Awards, and The BAFTA Awards.
Kevin Kline even walked away with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Otto in the film, an assassin with a short fuse. This is a terrifically manic performance, as Otto pretends to be an intellectual, but is really an insecure doofus with an itchy trigger finger. Honestly, the actor has so many funny scenes in the film that it’s hard to pinpoint which one is his best.
Last, but certainly not least is Curtis, whose ability to go from virginal nerd to sultry sex goddess in about two seconds is on full display here. It was apparently Curtis who fought to bring this character from dark femme fatale to romantic lead, and her work here was well worth it. This is one of the actress’ most likeable performances, even while you’re completely unsure of her intentions. It’s too bad that no film other than perhaps James Cameron’s True Lies or Trading Places have really taken advantage of Curtis’ talents in such a way.
Without a doubt, A Fish Called Wanda is one of the best comedies of the 1980’s and still holds up after all these years. The laughs range from dry humor to complete slapstick with ease and all involved are top notch. Watching the movie again, no collection of comedies should be complete with out this whale of a gem.
The Video
The print on this disc is good, but not great. There’s some degradation and moments with quite a bit of debris on screen. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
The Audio
The audio is a much better, as the Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds really nice on this new disc.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Documentary, Commentary, Trivia Track, Featurettes, and Trailers.
Audio Commentary with John Cleese – This is a pretty dry track, but it is absolutely loaded with bits about the production. Cleese had a wonderful relationship with Director Charles Crichton, who he had worked with for over twenty years, and he pours out his feelings about the man on this track. He also talks in depth about the cast and what a joy it was to work with them.
Something’s Fishy Documentary – The documentary goes about 30 minutes and covers all kinds of facets about the production. It’s very interesting to note how rocky the filming was towards the beginning because all of the actors had such varied styles. With some being very rigid and others being very improvisational, the styles weren’t meshing at first, but after a week or so everything startled to settle in and the result was a terrific Comedy.
Kulture Vulture – This is a featurette for British TV about the different locations from the film. Kind of like a travelogue, many of the film’s scenes are shown and then the locations where they were filmed is gone over.
A Message from John Cleese – This is about five minutes and starts with Cleese going “Hello, I’m Meryl Streep”¦no wait”. You can probably guess where it goes from there.
John Cleese’s First Farewell Performance – This Featurette covers how Cleese is very specific about the roles he takes. An interview with Cleese is only half serious, with a funny bit talking about him having to buy his ideas from another man, who gets his ideas from another woman in a foreign country.
Farewell Featurette: John Cleese – This is a vintage featurette and isn’t terribly interesting. Still watchable, though.
Deleted and alternate scenes with introductions by John Cleese – There’s nearly 30 minutes of deleted footage here, with Cleese talking in front of all of them and explaining why they were cut. The video quality on these is poor, but not so bad that they’re unwatchable.
Trivia track – Did you know Jamie Lee Curtis inherited a Royal Title when her husband became a Lord Baron? Or that MGM held a screening this film for people that had the same last name as different types of fish? Me either, but that’s the type of info you’ll get on this track.
Trailers – Trailers for this film and other Comedies including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the new Pink Panther movie, the original Casino Royale and others are included.
Mug Shots
Still Gallery
THE INSIDE PULSE:
One of the great Comedies finally gets a disc that is worthy of it. After months of waiting, this disc finally arrives with great features to go along with this wonderful movie.
