Overboard (2018) – Film Review
This marks the first time I’ve seen a remake before the original. I know, right? Heresy…
I did go out and rent the 1987 film, though. Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn…sounds like a good time.
The remake, starring Anna Faris (the Scary Movie franchise) and Eugenio Derbez (How To Be A Latin Lover, Instructions Not Included), I feel, is just as deserving of praise.
Despite some slow-going, in the beginning—the film really doesn’t start to get rolling until about the half-hour mark—I had a surprisingly-good time. Some jokes fell forced, but there are some genuine chuckles, as well, sprinkled in. It’s heartfelt; the roles are reversed, this time, and it all makes for what would be an excellent “date movie”, for all the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes reading.
Walking out of the film, I found myself particularly taken by Derbez’s performance as Leonardo—the cocky, arrogant heir to a multi-billion dollar (yet quite nebulous, in its operations) business empire. Once the whole amnesia thing happens, yes, he’s taken for a bit of a ride, but his more sentimental moments are what really grabbed me. He’s got range, as an actor—I knew this, going in. Still, it made me smile—even get a little misty—when he shoulders some of the responsibilities he does, living with Faris’s Kate. While not a personal favorite actress of mine, Faris really impressed me here, too, with her emotional range. I saw her as the face of Scary Movie for so long, I never imagined her as anything more—like I’ll never be able to not see Chris Evans as Captain America in every movie he does after being freed from Marvel.
I loved Kate’s kids, too; each of them brings something to the table—some risk, some reward. Each has their own thing, growing up fatherless, that they’re struggling with, and which Leonardo goes all-in in helping them out. Everything he does made me dread the inevitable “Hey, wait…you lied to me” scene allthemore. And the aftermath is just as equally-gripping, as the whole of the Sullivan clan seems to have adopted and truly love him. They got to see the part of Leo that was always there, just suppressed by the lavish lifestyle he had before the amnesia. It’s genuine, sweet, and it all flows from Derbez naturally, thanks to his veteran acting status.
Other recognizable faces in the cast (sans filmographies, for time) include Eva Longoria, Swoosie Kurtz, John Hannah, Mel Rodriguez, and Garry Chalk.
The settings are superbly-detailed and feel lived-in. There’s one excellent piece of internal framing that made me gasp…before I found there was no pay-off, it was just a fake-out. Still gold, though. While the reversal says different things about people of disparate “classes” now than in ’87, it’s still clear in its message: We are who we believe we are, not what someone else tells us to be true (or, in this case, untrue).
The soundtrack is…a little off-putting; I loved the Mexican additions, but the one jumpy tune they kept re-using took me out of the film, every time it came on. A lot of Mexican stereotypes are tackled—often to brilliant, comedic effect—and I often found myself getting choked-up, during some of the softer moments.
Overall, Overboard is a fine film. Nit-picks, aside, I enjoyed the hour and fifty-two I spent in the theatre.
Final ‘Risk Assessment: ****/*.
Next review: Deadpool 2 (May 18th)
