Movie Review: Overboard (1987)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Garry Marshall  

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Edward Herrmann, Roddy McDowall  

Running Time: 112 minutes  

Synopsis: In Oregon, Dean (Kurt Russell) is a carpenter and single dad to four boys. He is treated poorly by the wealthy and spoiled Joanna (Goldie Hawn) after he upgrades her yacht closet. When Joanna suffers memory loss after accidentally falling overboard, her husband Grant (Edward Herrmann) abandons her at the hospital. Dean senses an opportunity for revenge: he pretends to be Joanna's husband, calls her Annie, and takes her home to care for the chaos of his ramshackle house and kids.

What Works Well: Real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn carry an easy chemistry into this romantic comedy, more often than not finding fun and laughs in a story of mutual antagonism turning to opposites-attract love. The unlikely plot benefits from a commitment to two well-defined central characters, Dean a kind-hearted carpenter hiding beneath a rough-and-tumble exterior, Joanna discovering the nurturing joys of family as an alternative to the entitled nothingness of wine and fashion. In a highlight scene, Hawn turns a chicken cooking session into comedy gold.

What Does Not Work As Well: The more physical comedy moments lean into food-fight and hose-down type silliness rather than cleverness, while Joanna's husband Grant and mother Edith (Katherine Helmond) are firmly stuck in caricature land.

Key Quote:

Dean: Hey hey hey, don't you worry about me and my boys, okay? We're pals.

Annie: They have enough pals, they need a father.

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