Things you liked (enough) from the ‘80s and ‘90s are popular again, as you’ve certainly noticed, and the 1987 comedy Overboard was the very definition of a good-enough ‘80s entertainment: a lightweight, warm, mildly amusing picture, less reliant on big laughs than the enviable chemistry of co-stars and real-life partners Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. In fact, the Hawn/Russell factor is such a huge part of the film’s success that it’s hard to imagine it working without them, but apparently we’re going to try.
The new Overboard subs in Anna Faris for Goldie Hawn, which you must admit is a pretty fair trade, with Instructions Not Included star Eugenio Debrez taking over for Russell. But there’s a twist – the new version also swaps genders, so that working-class Faris is the one basically kidnapping and gaslighting spoiled, rich Debrez. All things considered, probably not a terrible idea!
Here’s your trailer:
Overboard ’87 was directed by Garry Marshall, who made few great movies and an awful lot of bad ones, but was uniquely skilled at personality-driven comedy that was neither offensive nor particularly memorable. The new one is helmed by one Rob Greenberg, making his feature directorial debut after doing a lot of TV and co-writing… oh dear, the misbegotten 2008 Eddie Murphy flop Meet Dave. (Then again, his collaborator on that script was MST3K and Rifftrax’s Bill Corbett, so no harm, no foul.)
But who’re we kidding: Overboard is a safe property for remaking, because it’s not like the original was some kind of masterpiece. People have accrued a fair amount of affection for it, mostly because there was a time where it played pretty much every weekend on either TNT or TBS, but these aren’t really giant shoes they’re filling. The original was fine. Maybe the remake will be too? We’ll find out when it hits theaters on April 13.