Overboard

Directed by Garry Marshall, Overboard follows Kurt Russell’s Dean Proffitt as he convinces an amnesiac heiress (Goldie Hawn’s Joanna) that she’s actually his wife and forces her to maintain his sloppy home and take care of his four obnoxious kids. It’s a bizarre setup that’s employed to mostly watchable and genial effect by Marshall, as the filmmaker, working from a script by Leslie Dixon, delivers an entertaining comedy that benefits substantially from the charming efforts of its two stars – with Russell and Hawn elevating the material on an all-too-consistent basis and ensuring that the inevitable romance between their respective characters is more affecting and compelling than one might’ve assumed. There’s little doubt, however, that Overboard‘s 112 minute running time (!) paves the way for an exceedingly hit-and-miss atmosphere that rarely, if ever, feels streamlined (ie the picture contains little in the way of forward momentum, ultimately), with the third-act, fake breakup stretch, which is prolonged to an almost interminable extent, diminishing the impact and effectiveness of the movie’s admittedly satisfying climax – which does, in the end, confirm the film’s place as a just-good-enough romcom that succeeds in spite of Marshall’s lackadaisical sensibilities and a premise that couldn’t possibly be more dated.

**1/2 out of ****