Post by StevePulaski on Apr 30, 2018 14:00:14 GMT -5
Overboard (1987)
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in Overboard.
Rating: ★★½
With a sunny disposition cast over its premise enough to obscure most of the unease it would inspire in contemporary times, Overboard is a comedy of bygone sensibilities in multiple ways. For one, it bears the kind of muted colors, even in outdoor scenes, and characteristically lo-fi video quality only an eighties comedy could effectively produce. Furthermore, its screwball storyline and escalating events curiously belong to a culture that could embrace rather PG-rated material. Today, it's as if there would need to be some full-frontal nudity, copious swearing, or just an aggravating loudness to the antics in order for audiences to accept it.
The story is as old as time, with the narrative capitalizing on the idea of an out-of-touch socialite experiencing life on the different side of the tracks to then come to the unbelievable realization that those she'd think little else of besides the individuals who live to serve her are actually people too. The socialite in question is Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn), an exorbitantly wealthy but disgustingly spoiled heiress who indulges in the riches of her husband (Edward Herrmann). The two are sailing on their yacht off the coast of Elk Cove, Oregon as Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell), a local carpenter, is tasked with constructing an elaborate closet in the couple's bedroom. Appalled at his choice to make the closet out of oak wood as opposed to cedar, Joanna refuses to compensate him and literally sends him and his tools overboard the ship.
That evening, Joanna herself slips and falls overboard. Upon being recovered by an oceanic garbage sifter, she has amnesia and cannot remember who she is or anything immediately associated with her life. Dean catches the breaking news story on TV and hatches a plan with his pal, Billy (Michael G. Hagerty in an oafish yet likable performance), to pretend to be her husband as a mode of revenge. At the hospital, Joanna's husband is perfectly content with this arrangement especially after seeing her violently lash out at the hospital staff, who are at a loss at how to handle her outbursts. Dean takes Joanna — whom he calls "Annie" — home to show that she has four rambunctious young boys in a ramshackle home on uneven ground. Even with no memory, "Annie" can hardly believe she was ever in such an uncomfortable position in life.
Russell and Hawn may be the headliners of Overboard, and while their chemistry is realized thanks to the strengths of their performances, Dean's boys, namely Jared Rushton and Brian Price, his older sons. The sons have some of the most uproariously funny dialog throughout the film. Consider Price's Travis, who welcomes his parents home with the good news that he is flunking math while his siblings tell them of the A they received in English class or the school play in which they were cast. The line-delivery not only from Price but all the boys, including Jamie Wild and Jeffrey Wiseman rounding out the quartet, is humorous as their relationship with Hawn's Annie is heartfelt as the film persists. More than quippy in their dialog, they are consistent in their humor, whereas Russell and Hawn shine the most when left to the devices of their archetypes, chewing their characters and exaggerating their tendencies.
Overboard may indeed be a perfect example of why the screwball comedy genre is in for a serious, gender-centric revisionist critique in the coming years. While the classic principles of the genre are well-executed, problematic concepts of gaslighting and the loss of female agency arise here in a big way. Although Hawn's Annie is not as manipulated as her thankless role suggests, the foundational elements of this premise don't exactly speak volumes to men's intentions nor thoughts of domesticity. It undermines them by thinking they want a house-slave to play with, nurse, and attend to their children so they don't have to, an undertone that becomes an overtone thanks to the lightly conscious writing of Leslie Dixon (Mrs. Doubtfire, the remake of Hairspray). Certain realizations make Overboard easier to stomach and never is its intent so malicious that it devolves into anything less than being pleasantly farcical. Before you dismiss these observations as overblown or unnecessary nitpicking, consider why the forthcoming remake of the film, starring Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez, has the roles reversed so that Derbez plays a wealthy tycoon and Faris is a lowly janitor.
Perhaps the initially off-putting idea serves as the justification for why the film undeniably succumbs to its romantic cliches by the end, even groaningly so. Yet for solid stretches, Overboard retains its slap-dash nature by way of merging soft physical comedy with well-performed archetypes thanks to great casting. Once more, examining this film with the added benefit of modern context, it also shows that director Garry Marshall was once a serviceable director when it came to romantic films, largely, in my opinion, due to his ability to hyperfocus on one love-story rather than an upwards of 12 and a central holiday.
Starring: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Michael G. Hagerty, Edward Herrmann, Brian Price, Jared Rushton, Jamie Wild, and Jeffrey Wiseman. Directed by: Garry Marshall.