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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: August 24th, 2021.
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Edward Herrmann, Katherine Helmond, Roddy McDowall
Year: 1987
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Overboard - Movie Review:
If the director of Beaches and Pretty Woman teamed up with the writer of Mrs. Doubtfire and Look Who's Talking Now teamed up to make a romantic comedy, would you want to watch it? Probably not, because you'd expect it to suck Mark Shannon's warty balls but director Garry Marshall and screenwriter Leslie Dixon did team up for a 'rom-com' with 1987's Overboard and, honestly, it doesn't suck. It should suck, mind you, but it doesn't, and the vast majority of the credit for that goes to real life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn as well as the inimitable Roddy McDowell.
The story is predictably effective. Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) is a spoiled your upper class socialite married to a snobby douchebag named Grant Stayton III (Edward Herrmann). They're just about the most unlikeable couple you can imagine, with Joanna in particular not above using her husband's wealth to get what she wants and treating pretty much everyone she comes across like garbage. When their yacht, which they travel on with their incredibly put upon butler Andrew (Roddy McDowall), starts experiencing mechanical difficulties, they've no choice but to dock in Elk Cove, Oregon and hope to find someone with the expertise to repair it.
While the boat is docked, Joanna decides she needs more shoe storage on the boat and so she hires a scruffy, blue collar, widowed carpenter named Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell) to hook her up. Dean proves to be a bit of a perfectionist and when his trying to do the best jobs results in her getting impatient with him, she gets irate, and when she doesn't like the finished product she refuses to pay him and pushes him... overboard. Later that night, when Joanna drops her wedding ring, she too falls overboard. When she's picked up by a garbage hauling boat, she's got no memory of who she once was, but still remains a total tyrant in terms of how she treats everyone else. Her accident makes the news and Dean realizes who she is, decides to get revenge by posing as her husband, and brings her back to his place to keep house for him and help him raise his four bratty sons. While Joanna sucks at this at first, she gets better at it and as she becomes accustomed to her new life, Dean starts to fall for her, unaware that her mother, Edith Mintz (Katherine Helmond - Mona from Who's The Boss?), has started looking for her.
Overboard is not without its charm. Russell and Hawn are very good together here, likely an effect of their real life romantic relationship giving them the comfort level a lot of other couples don't have when playing ridiculously unbelievable roles in cornball romantic comedies. Supporting work from McDowell, genuinely funny as the butler, and Edward Herrmann, who plays the pompous ass that is Grant Stayton III perfectly, is also appreciated but the movie really coast on Hawn and Russell's chemistry. And that's okay, because they're fun to watch here. Katherine Helmond is pretty amusing, and well-cast, in her role as well.
Overboard is very much a cornball romantic comedy, it just happens to be one where the cast is good enough to hold our attention and ensure that we don't question what we're watching too much (and given what we review around these here parts, that's saying something, and at this point I'll refer you back to Mark Shannon's warty balls as evidence). But the thing is, it does work. Overboard should be unwatchable garbage but it isn't, it's completely watchable garbage, and that's the kind of garbage we can get behind! The movie doesn't ask you to think too much (in fact, the movie, if it had an opinion on such things, would probably prefer you didn't think at all), and it breezes by offering some decent laughs along the way.
Overboard - Blu-ray Review:
Severin Films brings Overboard to region A Blu-ray in AVC encoded 1080p high definition framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. Taken from a new 2k scan of al 35mm negative and taking up 36GBs of space on the 50GB disc, the picture quality here is quiet nice. The image is sparkly fresh and clean, showing pretty much no noticeable print damage at all. Colors look great, skin tones too, and detail is pretty strong as well.
24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 tracks are provided in English, French and Spanish with optional subtitles provided in English only. The English track is clean, clear and nicely balanced, free of any hiss or distortion. The score and effects work sounds nice and punchy without ever feeling too high in the mix. No complaints.
The main extra on the disc is a fourteen minute interview with Screenwriter Leslie Dixon. She talks here about making the transition from playing in a swing band to getting into screenwriting, moving to Los Angeles and learning how to do it. She also talks about the influence of her mother, some of the films she saw in her formative years, what it was like hanging out with the cast on set and her appreciation for what Russell and Hawn brought to their respective roles in the picture.
Rounding out the extras on the disc are an original theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection. Additionally, this release comes packaged with a collectible slipcover that you'll need the Jaws Of Life to actually get off of the case (we all love a good challenge).
Overboard - The Final Word:
Overboard might be an unexpected release from Severin Films but they've done a nice job on what is, quite honestly, a pretty enjoyable slice of mainstream romantic comedy silliness. Russell and Hawn have great chemistry here and the movie remains a pretty entertaining watch for those not instantly put off by the oft time dreaded 'rom-com' label.
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