Full Name: Otto West
Age: Uh… Kevin Kline was about 40…
Occupation: con-artist
Performed by: Kevin Kline
While some of his language makes me cringe every time, Otto was definitely my favorite character in A Fish Called Wanda.
So similar to Tulio is this goon that I couldn’t help but love him. Energetic, humorous, a bit slow but at the same time a near genius, Otto is very likely a Bugs Bunny fan (Lily noted this during the scene at the airport). The biggest difference between my two guys is that Otto is a skosh more…competent in their line of work. Slightly more important in the end, though is that he rarely begins to worry until it’s far too late. That’s the most likely reason he gets run over by a steamroller and Tuls doesn’t. Ignoring the fact that there WERE no steamrollers in Tulio’s time, of course.
Otto also reminds me quite a bit of Heathcliff of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I had a rather long list of reasons why, but I seem to have lost it. One of the reasons I do remember, however, is that both, while despising those around them, have to work at being evil. Otto does perform some rather malicious acts without thinking twice about them, but he jerked those chips out of Ken’s nose almost immediately when he realized that the man was suffocating (poor baby!).
The fish scene is really what made me fall in love with both the character and all of Kevin Kline’s work. It was just so utterly off the wall that I couldn’t help but love it. Unfortunately, though, I’m also a very large fan of Ken’s, and was therefore torn during a majority of the film. (Embittered Ken fans might be happy to note that we named our fish after the characters and Ken has been terrorizing Otto ^_^)
My mom seems to think that he was on drugs throughout. And it really wouldn’t surprise me in the least. But one way or another, the part was purely genius. Kudos to both John Cleese and Kevin Kline for creating and developing such a fun character!
Trivia:
~When he is talking with George in the jail, he mentions a Kevin Delaney. Delaney is Mr. Kline’s middle name.
Quotes:
“What was the middle thing?”
“Wasting old ladies isn’t nice!”
“Not you, Ken. You have a beautiful speaking voice. When it works.”
“Are you thinking, or are you in mid stutter?”
“Don't go near him, he’s mine!”
“It’s a Buddhist meditation technique. The monks used it before going into battle.”
“We did not lose Vietnam! It was a tie!”
“Avoid the green ones. They’re not ripe yet.”
“Look! It’s K-K-K-Ken, c-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me!”
Thanks to Whizzo Online for the pics.
