X
- 1987
- PG
- MGM/UA Distribution Company
- 1 h 52 m
- 1987
- PG
- MGM/UA Distribution Company
- 1 h 52 m
Summary A cruel and beautiful heiress mocks and cheats over a hired carpenter. When she gets amnesia, he decides to introduce her to working-class life by convincing her they're husband and wife.
Directed By: Garry Marshall
Written By: Leslie Dixon
- 1987
- PG
- MGM/UA Distribution Company
- 1 h 52 m
- 1987
- PG
- MGM/UA Distribution Company
- 1 h 52 m
Overboard
53
8.0
Where to Watch
Summary A cruel and beautiful heiress mocks and cheats over a hired carpenter. When she gets amnesia, he decides to introduce her to working-class life by convincing her they're husband and wife.
Directed By: Garry Marshall
Written By: Leslie Dixon
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
53
31% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
54% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
15% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
53
31% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
54% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
15% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
This hilarious and touching romantic comedy recalls the integrated plotting and sophisticated dialogue of '30s Hollywood. Russell is excellent as overgrown kid Dean; Hawn gives her best performance to date as the hapless heiress turned gutsy wife and mother (the kids aren't just cutely naughty, they're truly obnoxious); and Marshall's faultless timing makes the most of Leslie Dixon's neatly contrived situations and snappy dialogue.
The things that make Overboard special, however, are the genuine charm, wit and warm energy generated by the entire cast and director Garry Marshall. Hawn and Russell work well together, never overplaying scenes that easily could have self-destructed.
Those opening minutes, in which Hawn plays a heavy, are some of her best work. The rest we've seen before, a lot. Overboard is overlong, and stale as can be. [18 Dec 1987, p.D6]
The film tries to mix the two 1930s movie comedy strains: screwball romance and populist fable. But there's something nerveless and thin about it. Hawn and Russell are good, but their scenes together have a calculated spontaneity--overcute, obvious. Director Garry Marshall keeps the lines slamming off each other briskly but with a shallow, hectoring energy. And he doesn't have much visual flair.
Overboard is predictable, yet charming. Russell exudes a natural earthiness that lends itself to this type of material. Hawn plays gamely along. While Overboard recalls director Marshall's (Nothing in Common) sitcom days, the movie is shot with the sort of graininess that can never be mistaken for television. It could look a lot better. [18 Dec 1987, p.7]
Overboard is an uninspiring, unsophisticated attempt at an updated screwball comedy that is brought down by plodding script and a handful of too broadly drawn characters. Only element that occasionally lifts pic is the work of the redoubtable Goldie Hawn, who gives a gem of a performance.
If there's an amnesia movie worse than Overboard, it slips my mind.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
8.0
86% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
14% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
8.0
86% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
14% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Young Artist Awards
• 2 Nominations
American Comedy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
