The story centers mainly around four individuals who rob a diamond exchange in London and the barrister (Cleese) who defends one of them when he is accused of the heist and winds up in jail. Georges (Tom Georgeson; Notes on a Scandal), Wanda, (Jamie Lee Curtis; True Lies), Otto (Kline), and Ken (Michael Palin; Monty Python and the Holy Grail) carefully plan and pull off a jewelry heist but Georges ends up in jail when Otto anonymously calls in a fake report to the police that Georges was the one who stole the diamonds. Wanda appears distraught by this turn of events, though she is really a backstabbing con artist who, along with Otto plans on double-crossing Georges and Ken and taking all the jewels for themselves.
However, Georges has double-crossed them as well and moved the diamonds to another location. Wanda must now cozy up to Georges' barrister, Archie, to try and find out where the diamonds are so she can steal them out from all the other players. In the end, she does get the diamonds and Archie gets out from under his boring life and marriage and the two fly together to South America.
A Fish Called Wanda has almost a cult following and I can see why. It is very well written with dialogue and laughs that seem to have stood up to the test of time. Every time Kline's Otto mutters, "Don't call me stupid" you want to recite the phrase along with him and his performance, as the psychotic, philosophical, jealousy-ridden thief is the work of pure genius. His Academy Award is well deserved in this case.
The rest of the cast is a well-oiled machine and have a good chemistry that adds to the overall effect of the film. Director Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob), in the last film he directed, does some terrific work with brevity of movement, good flow, and varied camera angles. His vision and style are apparent throughout the movie.
The Blu-ray has a number of extras, though many are previously released features. They include Audio Commentary with Cleese, John Cleese's Final Farewell Performance, a documentary from 1988 on the making of the movie, Something Fishy that revisited the film 15 years later, On Location, two brand appreciation interviews with Vic Pratt and Roger Murray-Leach, 26 deleted / alternate scenes, a message from John Cleese from the original release, Gallery, Trivia Track and Theatrical trailer. There are hours of videos to watch and enjoy that include all the main cast and crew.
Arrow Films also added a 39-page booklet that is broken down into four parts. The first discusses the cast and crew, the second is an article called Laughing and not laughing at A Fish Called Wanda, the third is a 1988 article called Wanda Lust and the last part includes the restoration details.
The specifications state the original 35mm camera negative was scanned onto 4K then cleaned of dirt, debris and scratches and, finally, image stability was improved. The audio has both the original mono and 5.1 mixes. The overall effect is a solid audio/visual experience.
The movie is a new classic that people remember and love and was a good choice for the new Blu-ray "makeover" and re-release. If you loved the movie back in 1988 this version will surely please you.
Grade: B
