Product Description

Tour-de-force performances from an unparalleled comic cast highlight this much-loved hit that Roger Ebert calls "the funniest movie I have seen in a long time!" Monty Pythoners John Cleese and Michael Palin (Search For The Holy Grail, The Meaning Of Life) join OscarÂ(r) winner* Kevin Kline (In & Out) and Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies) in an entertainment so impeccably timed and executed that Time Magazine hailed it as: "Geniu[a film that] Redefines a great comic tradition!" Four conniving jewel thieves...three Yorkshire terriers...two heaving bosoms and one proper British barrister. It all adds up to "a non-stop barrage of...outrageous plot twists and over-the top performances" (L.A. Weekly) when a girl called Wanda (Curtis) tries to deceive her Nietzche-quoting boyfriend (Kline), an animal-loving hitman (Palin) and an embarrassment-prone counselor (Cleese) out of a fortune in jewels in this hilariously funny farce! *1988: Best Supporting Actor, A Fish Called Wanda

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6681 in DVD
• Brand: CURTIS,JAMIE LEE
• Released on: 1999-03-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Kevin Kline took home an Oscar for his performance as a self-absorbed lothario who prepares for lovemaking by drinking in his own "manly" musk, but it would be hard to single him out as the best thing about the film. The fact is, the entire cast of this hilarious comedy is perfect: John Cleese as the conservative barrister defending a member of sexy Jamie Lee Curtis's gang, Ms. Curtis as the conniving crook out to grab the haul for herself, and Michael Palin as the stuttering, animal-loving hit man whose attempts to murder a little old lady only decrease the size of her poodle pack. Cleese cowrote the zingy script with British comedy veteran Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob), whose smooth direction balances Monty Python farce, hysterically tasteless gags, and an unexpectedly romantic subplot with style and confidence. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Review of A Fish Called Wanda
I've loved this movie for years. It always cheers me up. Kevin Kline
won a best supporting oscar for this movie. He is a psuedo intellectual
who is jealous of Jamie Lee Curtis's characters crush on John Cleese.
Between Kline driving on the wrong side of the road and being a complete idiot. You will soon discover why this movie is a gem.

Kim Rivest

a classic comedy
I give this classic comedy 5 stars. It is particularly interesting because it makes fun of both American and English cultural styles, each side satirizing what they think is silly about the other side. That makes this movie an insight into how the two cultures see each other - lots to learn from this!

This fish is delicious...
I didn't think that I was going to adore this movie as much as I do; don't really know why, but my expectations were rather low. I know, Kline had won the Oscar and so maybe that should have sparked a little more interest, or at least faith in me, but I still saw this as a movie I was going to be mildly enthused about at best. I was so wrong, for as the film started rapidly drawing to a close I found myself uttering aloud "this movie is outrageous" and I meant that in a wildly good way.

The film tells the story of American jewel thief Wanda who uses her charm to seduce men whom she needs in order to get her hands on some very valuable diamonds. Her lover Georges and his stuttering companion Ken help Wanda steal the jewels with the aid of Otto, another man whom Wanda has seduced and is passing off as her brother. She has deceived each man into believing that her intentions are to share the jewels with them, when her intention is to take them for herself. When Georges is captured by the police after moving the diamonds away from their initial hiding place Wanda begins to set her charms on Archie Leach, Georges barrister, hoping to find out the new location of the diamonds. All the while she continues to string along each individual man, adding layer upon layer of lies to keep them pacified until she has all her ducks in a row so-to-speak.

But nothing ever works out as expected.

The film is hilarious from start to finish, a complete laugh-riot, and the performances by the entire cast are Oscar worthy. Jamie Lee Curtis is adorable here, delivering what may be her finest performance ever. She is sly, conniving, sexy and charming; never allowing her characters tricks to overshadow her performance but always playing to her strengths and delivering a brilliantly crafted comedic performance. Michael Palin is also rather great as Ken, and Maria Aitken has a very memorable supporting role as Archie's wife Wendy. John Cleese is golden as Archie, the lovelorn barrister who falls for Wanda's undeniable charm; but it is Kevin Kline (Oscar winner Kevin Kline) who steals this movie with his comedic delivery. He is one-hundred percent on the top of his game here, delivering a strangely perverse yet fully fleshed out character who is unforgettable to say the least.

Oh yeah, and he is so the leading male character here, regardless of whose name gets top billing.

`A Fish Called Wanda' is, without doubt, one of the best films of 1988, and it is seriously one of the greatest comedies I have seen in a long time. It hits every mark beautifully and creates an eclectic cast of characters who all feel real and all feel complete. Oscar hit a high note when crowning Kline an Oscar winner; it's just too bad it was in the wrong category.