Most critics warmly recommend A Fish Called Wanda, with praise clustering around its ensemble, tightly worked farce and comedy of British-American differences. Charles Crichton’s economical direction receives particular credit for sustaining the pace while allowing awkward encounters and character clashes enough time to become funny. The performances are another point of agreement: the cast’s chemistry makes the scheming enjoyable, while Kevin Kline’s manic Otto draws particular praise for giving the film much of its personality.
The reservations concern taste and comic payoff rather than the performers, though the spread runs from outright enthusiasm to a mixed response. Slant Magazine finds some of the humour dated in its poor taste, without treating that as a decisive weakness. The New York Times is the clearest dissenter, admiring the cast’s chemistry but finding the caper less funny in execution than in anticipation, with a central joke stretched too far.