A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

This is an interesting one, because I have always thought this movie was overrated. It has all the ingredients needed to be one of the greatest comedies of all time (and is considered to be exactly that), but for me it never quite hits the mark. I have tried many times in the past to watch this movie, especially after the cast reunited for Fierce Creatures (now that is one Hell of a funny film), but I just don't get all the fuss.

Set in London, A Fish Called Wanda is a mad-cap heist comedy about four very different personalities who team up to commit armed robbery. It all goes awry when they try to double-cross, triple-cross and quadruple-cross each other for the bounty (that's the gist of it in it's simplest form).

So I've made it pretty clear I think that I am not a fan of this movie, but no matter how underwhelmed I am by it, when you break down the elements and analyse it, it is all there, the irony of it all - but humour, especially blatant slapstick humour, just shouldn't be this much hard work!

Let's look at it shall we...

1. John Cleese, can you go wrong? Take a Monty Python alumnus, Mr Basil Fawlty himself, he of the towering bumbling gangliness, an icon of british and master of physical comedy and give him a role that he is perfectly suited for and you going to have a laugh a minute right? Yes he is John Cleese, and he has come to the party but the problem here I think is that he is so much funnier in everything else... And I can say this confidently, because currently Fawlty Towers has been on TV in re-runs, and I'm just pissing myself... (Oh, and he was funnier in Fierce Creatures).

2. Jamie Lee Curtis, the Scream Princess (daughter of Janet Leigh the first real Scream Queen), at the height of her popularity, out of leotard playing the cunning vixen and it's bound to be scintillating right - ummm, as far as comedy goes, she's funnier in Freaky Friday... as far as sexiness goes, True Lies... some things just get better with age... (Oh, and she too was better in Fierce Creatures).

3. Kevin Kline, the genius that is Kevin in his Academy Award winning role, can he be too overpowering? Perhaps a tad, and maybe this is where it all falls flat, not because he is the funniest thing about this movie, but he is so funny that you feel that maybe he drowns the rest of his co-stars, could he have just toned it down a little? No, that's not fair - perhaps the others could have stepped it up? Kevin is always funny and he definitely brought it, there's a disconnect though, I can't put my finger on it (he is as good in this movie as he is in Fierce Creatures).

4. Michael Palin, another Monty Python Alumnus is also great in the movie, the stuttering bungling animal lover  has some of the funniest moments in the movie, but they are not so much about the ineptitude of his character really, or about him, this is more about the situations the script has created, there really are some funny moments in this movie (but Fierce Creatures is just funnier).

I don't know, I am at a loss this time around, I just don't get it, someone please explain it to me, is there any wonder that this movie holds a record for being the movie that took the longest to reach number 1? Not in my mind, but let's give credit where it's due, I believe that the world was ready for British humour and the timing of it's release benefitted from this, we live in a world now where British comedies are a valuable genre all their own, the British sensibility and approach to humour is an essential part of our cinematic landscape.

The movie remains universally acclaimed and is still considered one of the funniest films ever made, it was so funny that when it was screened in Denmark in 1989 a man actually died laughing – no jokes (anymore at least)… ‘scuse the pun.

I guess this is just proof that taste is a totally subjective...

Say what I will (and I have) but it is a fact, comedy like horror more than often gets snubbed at the Oscars, Kevin Kline winning his though is not so much of an 'about time', it really is a well deserved performance, living up to a standard that comedy should be held to. A Fish Called Wanda is the 1st movie from the 61st Academy Awards watched since blog commencement, and the 45th Academy Award watched overall. Out of 35 years of movies to choose from, I have watched a selection of some from 25 years thus far.

  

nuff said...