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Some people might assume (understandably, really) that, after spending my entire week watching movies and writing about them, I’d want to do anything but watch movies on the weekend. But, on Friday nights, I often curl up on the couch with an old favorite—something light and fun and just plain entertaining. One of those Friday favorites is Garry Marshall’s 1987 comedy, Overboard.
Life isn’t easy for Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell). The carpenter and widowed father of four little monsters has to work around the clock just to make ends meet. But he has no idea what he’s getting himself into when he takes a job for Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn). She’s spoiled and demanding and downright insulting—and after Dean spends two days remodeling the closet on her yacht, she refuses to pay for his work.
That night, Joanna accidentally falls overboard. When she’s found, she has no recollection of who she is or where she came from. Her husband, Grant (Edward Herrmann), sees it as the perfect opportunity to let loose a little. Dean, on the other hand, sees it as the perfect payback. So while Grant celebrates his freedom, Dean claims Joanna as his wife, “Annie”—and he brings her home to his run-down shack to pay off her debt by cooking and cleaning and taking care of his kids.
It may not have been an Oscar-winning hit, but this riches-to-rags comedy is filled with the kind of good-natured humor that most of us need after yet another long, tiring work week. The story is pretty far-fetched—from Joanna’s convenient case of amnesia to the fact that everyone happily goes along with Dean’s sneaky little plot. But, instead of taking the story seriously and expecting the audience to do the same, the cast simply has fun with it.
Hawn is completely over-the-top as Joanna, the spoiled rich woman whose outrageous expectations perfectly match her outrageous ‘80s fashions. But Dean manages to turn the tables, going from the poor, lowly carpenter to the loud, demanding slave-driver. Still, while you’ll have every reason to hate these characters for their bad attitudes and their taking advantage of others, Hawn and Russell make them strangely lovable. Even when she’s at her worst, Joanna is more amusing than annoying—and although Dean sometimes takes his payback a little too far, he does everything with an irresistibly easy-going smile on his face.
Throw in a bunch of wild and crazy kids (like little Joey, played by Jeffrey Wiseman, who insists on talking like Pee-Wee Herman), a little bit of romance, and a whole lot of zany laughs, and you’ve got a surprisingly sweet ‘80s comedy that makes a great pick for a fun Friday night at home.
