Overboard

Just one more shining example that Hollywood has lost its ability to come up with even one original idea. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon and rail against Hollywood's blatant pandering to the PC crowd. That's been pointed out well enough. I'm just going to say that this movie wasn't funny. At all. Pretty sad when you consider they are marketing it as a comedy. Compared to this, the new Ghostbusters was a laugh riot. And that one sucked, too.

Consider this a public service. The new Overboard remake is simply dreadful. Where the original was light and funny and endlessly quotable, the remake is flat, depressing, and basically comes off as a "Spanish 101 lesson for Gringos". Anna Faris generally strikes me as fairly funny in her other work but even she can't right this sinking ship. Eugenio Derbez captures none of Goldie Hawn's hilarious, over-the-top pretentiousness, Swoosie Kurtz is an abomination in the insane mother role so superbly executed by Katherine Helmond in the original. John Hannah is his usual charming self as the beleaguered "Andrew" but he's given almost nothing to work with, whereas Roddy McDowell ( both acting and exec. producer in the original) steals many classic scenes. The kids are dreadful. The rich relatives are dreadful. The poor friends, including Eva Longoria... dreadful. Run, don't walk, away from this picture.

What happens when you take a classic beloved comedy, switch the gender roles to jump on the P.C. bandwagon, give it to two unqualified directors with no experience in feature films, cast two actors with less chemistry than a frog and an old shoe, put the entire plot in the trailer, and then release it to theaters? You get an entire world of people, especially fans of the original, wondering why the studio even bothered. I have no problem with remakes as long as they're enjoyable, but this one isn't. Not even a little. If you're going to remake a film, have a reason for remaking it. Add something new to it. And switching gender roles isn't "new." Hasn't been for a long time. This is a truly weak effort every step of the way, even from the normally enjoyable Farris who sleepwalks through every scene. Guess she had some extra time to kill between seasons of her sitcom Mom, or maybe she just needed the cash to supliment the millions she probably got from divorcing Chris Pratt. Whatever the reason, she needs to fire her agent. Look, if you must see this, wait until it's on cable, but only if there's nothing else on the other 2,000 channels.