Watson Reviews: Overboard

Remaking a fairly well known comedy from the 80s starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, the 2018 version of Overboard stars Eugenio Derbez (How to Be a Latin Lover) and Anna Ferris (House Bunny) in something of a gender swapped version. The reviews were poor and I went into this with not much in the way of expectations.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. The modern remake tells the story of the callous son of a wealthy billionaire who has never worked a day in his life. He treats the people around him as pawns in the pursuits of his hedonistic desires. When a local pacific northwesterner working three jobs while raising three kids and studying to be a nurse (it’s a lot but it really highlights the plight of the working poor) cleans his yacht, he tosses her aside (not metaphorically…he literally throws her off the side of the boat.)

When he himself has an accident and washes back ashore with amnesia, she hatches a plot of revenge where he cares for her home, earns a paycheck, and helps watch her kids while she studies.

Together they start to build a life together while his family searches for him.

WHAT WORKED:

• Derbez is an incredibly charming actor He carries the whole movie and it turns this from a total schlock comedy into something charming and warm. I really believed his transformation. That was not an easy feat to pull off. Like in How to Be a Latin Lover, Derbez plays above the material.
• The film plays with some interesting themes.  Overboard has some solid laughs but really does explore the difficulty of the working poor. Farris is working multiple jobs trying to make it. Her scheme, while immoral, is somewhat understandable. She is trying to earn a living while the super rich feel they can toss her aside. It was not an unsophisticated look at the subject either. You finds yourself really admiring the hard working labors who befriend the memory lapsed billionaire.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

• They could have shaved 10 minutes Though I enjoyed the film, it seemed to go on a little long. They could have trimmed some of the family inheritance drama and gotten just as tight of a narrative.
• Anna Farris was replaceable  She was fine in the film but you could have put any semi-funny actress in there and gotten as good of a film. She is legitimately funny, but this movie really didn’t leverage her strengths.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This was a good movie. I am glad I saw this movie. I didn’t think that would be the case. Call me pleasantly surprised.

Overall, I give OVERBOARD 8 “BBQ Grill Cremations“ out of 10.