1980s comedy Overboard, despite the considerable comic talents of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, isn’t exactly a classic. And, watching it 30 years on, it’s hard to avoid the distinct feeling of unease as a man takes advantage of a woman with amnesia. And so to the 2018 version: can a gender-flipped remake fix that, while also being funny and romantic? Not completely, it turns out.
And that’s no fault of Faris and Derbez, who do their best to keep the laughs coming. Derbez in particular, a big star in Mexico, has the sort of flexible face and smart comic timing that deserves better. As the louche Leonardo, he’s still strangely likeable. Faris, meanwhile, who has long been underrated, imbues Kate with a sweetness despite her dubious actions. Struggling to make ends meet, and working two jobs as she studies to become a nurse, Kate’s recognisably human, at least until she throws her crazy plan into action, egged on by best pal Theresa (Longoria).
It’s a little creepy to imagine anyone thinking what Kate does here is a good idea.
The real problem is the film around them. The set-up still stretches credibility somewhere beyond breaking point, and we’re supposed to cheer on these characters — one of whom was a thoughtless arsehole, while the other is exacting an extreme revenge plot because he was a thoughtless arsehole. It’s a little creepy to imagine anyone thinking what Kate does here is a good idea, even if she dodges the marital relations part and brings something good out in her fake husband. Soon, the layabout rich boy is cooking, cleaning and even trying to succeed in construction, an occupation to which he’s definitely not naturally suited. And though the leads do their best, when the inevitable emotional flips happen, the chemistry isn’t quite there, which means a lot of the third act drags.
Around them, the rest of the cast spin decent enough performances, without being particularly memorable. There are Kate’s three kids (the cute one, the middle one and the moody teen, all seemingly bought from the shelf of ‘Basic Movie Family’), Longoria’s pizza parlour owner and partner in crime, and Swoosie Kurtz as Kate’s theatre-obsessed mother, who could’ve been edited out of the story without losing much of anything.
There are nods to the original (a doctor mentions the only other case of amnesia like Leonardo’s happened to a woman in the 1980s) and a weird Jaws shout-out, but it’s all feels very thrown together, and shot like a TV movie — all flat surfaces and basic cinematography. The original Overboard might be ripe for someone to find a clever spin on the idea, but this isn’t it.
