The great John Cleese starred in two post-Monty Python films in the mid 1980s: 'Clockwise' is arguably under-rated, but 'A Fish Called Wanda' was a huge commercial success. This is actually surprising, as the film is only fitfully amusing, with its obvious (and commercially-minded) Anglo-American theme. A bigger problem, perhaps, is that Cleese himself plays a relatively straight role, leaving it to Michael Palin (never the funniest of the Pythons, and here merely annoying) and the always annoying Kevin Kline to attempt to deliver the laughs: the film only really becomes funny in its second half, when Cleese is finally allowed to show us his talents. Another point of note is that the Python-esquire vision of Britain, maybe enhanced by the use of veteran Ealing studios director Charles Chrichton, is starting to look dated: the world shown is a parody of contemporary life, but no longer accurate enough to be considered satire. There are still some funny moments here, but for a true demonstration of Cleese's greatness, look elsewhere.
Review of A Fish Called Wanda
