Apology in the Movies: A Fish Called Wanda

"Never apologize and never explain--it's a sign of weakness," John Wayne said in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."  Ever since, movie stars--Hello, Mel Gibson!--have avoided apologizing on the screen almost as much as they avoid it in real life.  Nevertheless a few good apologies have made it on screen.  My next five blogs will each feature a memorable apology scene from the cinema.

A FISH CALLED WANDA  (1998)

A jewel heist goes bad when a pair of British thieves are conned by two Americans, an alluring con artist named Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her deranged accomplice Otto (Kevin Kline).  In one celebrated scene, Archie, a proper British lawyer (John Cleese of Monty Python fame), accuses the foul-mouthed Otto of being "a true vulgarian." 

See the YouTube clip here. 

Otto is enraged and demands that Archie apologize.  Archie refuses. The next scene is a close-up of Archie who duly delivers himself of a model apology: 

ARCHIE:  I'm really, really sorry.  I apologize unreservedly.  I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment, and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you, or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

It's a perfect apology, except for one detail.  The apology is coerced.  As the camera pulls back and rotates 180 degrees, we see that Archie is upside down, suspended by Otto from an upper story window.