Overboard (1987) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Garry Marshall

Starring:  Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Edward Hermann, Katherine Helmond, Michael Hagerty, Hector Elizondo, Roddy McDowall

While the 2018 remake of Overboard had its charms, the original 1987 comedy works just that much better.    Russell and Hawn have undeniable chemistry, not surprising considering their decades-long relationship, and the supporting cast doesn't just stand around acting grateful to be in the same scenes as Russell and Hawn, they create some hilarity of their own.   

The plot is sly fun.   A working-class carpenter named Dean (Russell) is contracted to build a new shoe closet aboard the yacht owned by the haughty, filthy-rich, and bored Joanna Staten (Hawn).   Dean finishes the work, but Joanna is not satisfied because of some ticky-tack reasons and, after a verbal dispute, she tosses Dean's tools and Dean himself overboard.    He is out his money and his tools, and plots revenge, although how he would accomplish isn't known until fate and opportunity intervene.

Soon after, Joanna falls overboard while at sea and swims to shore with amnesia.   She has no idea who she is, but is still insufferable to the local hospital staff.    Dean sees the story on television and has a plan:   He will pretend to be her husband and take her home to have her work off her debt to him and make her life hell.    Dean, a single father with four out-of-control kids, lives in a pig sty of a house which looks like it has never been cleaned, and can barely contain his grin when he gives Joanna a laundry list of house chores. 

Since Overboard is a romantic comedy, we know Dean and Joanna will fall in love, but it is done more or less logically and touchingly.   Joanna learns how the other half lives, and becomes a better person for it.    Even Dean learns from the experience to be a better father and a potentially fitting partner for Joanna, if the whole lie about their relationship wasn't in the way.    Joanna's husband Grant (Hermann) meanwhile, takes off after learning of Joanna's dilemma and parties on the yacht.    He only reenters the scene when Joanna's even wealthier mother (Helmond) forces him to find her or be cut off.    Also on the scene helping Dean keep up the false front is his pal Bad Billy Pratt (Hagerty), who realizes more quickly than Dean that he and Joanna belong together.

Overboard transcends simply being a romantic comedy and takes it a step further.   It is just as interested in having its characters grow, mature, and transform into better people.    As Joanna's long-suffering butler Andrew, Roddy McDowall has a scene with Joanna which rings absolutely true, and nails the point home.    Director Garry Marshall, who made other successful comedies about familial relationships like The Flamingo Kid (1984) and Nothing in Common (1986), makes extra effort to make Overboard something special and lasting.