Film

A Fish Called Wanda

Name: A Fish Called Wanda
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 1988
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken

A jewel-heist farce written by John Cleese that pits buttoned-up English barristers against a pair of scheming, wildly incompatible American con artists. It's fast, filthy-minded and physically fearless, with Kevin Kline's dim-witted egomaniac stealing every scene he's in. Funny in a way that's both very silly and quietly cruel — good for anyone who likes their comedy with teeth.

TMDb rating

7.2

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Fierce Creatures1997

Reunites almost the entire Wanda gang — Cleese, Curtis, Palin — for another farce, this time set in a zoo, with the same collision of British stiffness and full-throttle silliness.

But The chemistry can't quite bottle the same lightning twice, and the plotting is looser and less airtight than Wanda's.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998

Guy Ritchie's breakout: a tangle of small-time crooks, dodgy deals and escalating desperation, with the same relish for watching carefully laid plans collapse spectacularly.

But Its rapid-fire cockney slang and hyperactive editing are a world away from Wanda's more classical comic timing.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster

Ocean's Eleven2001

Glossy, star-stacked heist fun built on cons within cons — less farce, more swagger, but the same appetite for schemers outwitting each other in style.

But It's slicker and cooler than funny, with none of Wanda's willingness to be genuinely stupid or embarrassing.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Big Deal on Madonna Street1958

Same engine as Wanda — a crew of small-time crooks bungling a heist through sheer incompetence — but thirty years earlier, in Italian, played as gentle slapstick rather than farce with teeth.

A gang of lovable, hopeless thieves plan an elaborate break-in that goes wrong in almost every conceivable way — it's the sweet, shambling grandparent of every heist comedy since, Wanda included.

But Subtitled and unhurried by modern comedy standards, it charms rather than dazzles — don't expect punchlines at Wanda's speed.

The Ladykillers1955

Ealing's classic about a gang of crooks undone by their own absurdity and one implacable old lady — the same gleeful pleasure in watching criminal plans crumble under human folly.

But Gentler, slower and more theatrical than Wanda's pace, with a drier, more old-fashioned sense of humour.

Snatch2000

A stolen-diamond farce crawling with overlapping schemers, none of whom quite know what they're holding or who's chasing whom — the tangled plotting will feel very familiar.

But Considerably more violent and profane, trading Wanda's wit for stylised brutality and swagger.

In the Loop2009

Political farce with the same escalating panic and crossed purposes, where everyone is scheming and nobody is as competent as they think — whip-smart and viciously funny.

But No heist, no romance, just pure verbal warfare — the density of jokes can be exhausting.

Midnight Run1988

A buddy crime comedy from the same year pairing mismatched personalities on a chase that keeps sabotaging itself; the friction plays like a cousin to Archie and Otto's rivalry.

But It's an American road movie at heart, without Wanda's culture-clash satire or ensemble farce structure.

What's Up, Doc?1972no page yet

A pure screwball chase farce with mistaken identities, swapped briefcases and chaos escalating scene by scene — if you love Wanda's momentum, this is its ancestor.

But Broader and sillier, with none of Wanda's edge of real menace or dark comic violence.

Kind Hearts and Coronets1949

A darkly funny Ealing classic about ambition, murder and impeccable manners, with the same dry relish for watching civilised people behave appallingly.

But Colder and more literary in tone; it trades farce for icy wit and won't hit the same broad comic notes.

The Lady Eve1941

Wanda seduces Archie as part of the con; here that same trick — romance as weapon — is the whole film, not a subplot to a jewel heist.

Barbara Stanwyck plays a card-sharp who falls for her own mark and can't decide whether to fleece him or love him; the wit is rapid, cruel and completely disarming.

But Black-and-white 1940s pacing and dialogue-heavy scenes may feel slow next to Wanda's physical comedy and crime plotting.

Fargo1996

Takes Wanda's premise — small-time crooks whose greed and stupidity spiral out of control — and plays it straight, as tragedy shot through with deadpan comedy.

A kidnapping scheme unravels through sheer incompetence and escalating violence, told with the Coens' bone-dry humour and a moral seriousness Wanda never attempts — unforgettable and strange.

But It's genuinely brutal in places — this isn't farce, and the laughs come laced with real dread.