A Fish Called Wanda (Special Edition) [DVD] [1988]

This 1988 comedy starred and was scripted by John Cleese and directed by Charles Crichton, veteran Ealing Comedy director. After 1986's Clockwise--in which he played a manic loser similar to Basil Fawlty--A Fish Called Wanda saw Cleese opting for a more sympathetic lead role. Cleese plays Archie Leach (Cary Grant's real name), a barrister living a typically English life of quiet desperation, who falls prey to the American charms of Jamie Lee Curtis. Posing as a law student, she's actually involved in a diamond robbery with psychotic but occasionally clueless Kevin Kline ("The London Underground is not a revolutionary movement!") and Michael Palin, an animal rights' activist. A Fish Called Wanda is, typically of Cleese, well constructed but the romantic heart of the movie softens it a little. It was intended as a satire on Anglo-American differences but most people remember it for a running joke involving squashed dogs, the chips up Palin's nose and the scene where Cleese is hung out of a window by his ankles. The same cast reassembled for 1997's vastly inferior Fierce Creatures.--David Stubbs

A Fish Called Wanda was the blockbuster which proved that John Cleese could be a movie star in his own right. Directed by the Veteran Charles Crichton, who made the 1951 Ealing Comedies classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Wanda combined Ealing-comedy capers and Basil Fawlty-esque farce with contemporary big-screen swearing and black comedy. The plot develops in classic film noir style as Cleese's lawyer, Archie Leech, gets sucked into the double-crossing aftermath of a London diamond heist.

For sound box-office reasons, British comedies often sport an American star and here Cleese delivers not only Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth operating femme fatale, but Kevin Kline as her idiotic, and insanely jealous lover (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Pushing the limits of bad taste is Michael Palin's animal-loving Ken, who in the film's best running gag attempts to murder an old lady, only to slay her beloved pet dogs. Other highlights include Palin as a man with two chips up his nose and Cleese showing the world a different sort of "Full Monty". One of the funniest British films ever made, A Fish Called Wanda was followed by Fierce Creatures (1997), which reunited the lead cast and claimed to be an "equal" not a "sequel", but sadly wasn't. --Gary S Dalkin

• Audio Commentary by John Cleese
  
• New documentary - Something Fishy
  
• Deleted scenes (with introduction by John Cleese)
  
• Original featurettes
  
• Theatrical trailer
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Easter Eggs: The Key to Wanda’s Heart, John Cleese’s thoughts on the USA, Jamie Lee Curtis’ Halloween momento
  
• Trivia Track
  
• Dolby 5.1

"takes a spot...as one of the funniest romantic comedies of the decade

Jewel thieves, Yorkshire terriers, proper British barristers and a fish called Wanda come together to create a comedy of non-stop wit and wonderfully funny mishaps. This classic comedy – the biggest British film ever at the time of its cinematic release – set a very high benchmark for subsequent British comedies. It’s full of laughs and has a fantastic cast, including John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline (who won an Oscar for his role as Otto, the Nietzsche-quoting psychopath) and Michael Palin. Now there is more to enjoy than ever before thanks to a whole host of Wanda-full special features! This two disc Special Edition DVD is stuffed to the gills with extras.