Sunday, May 13, 2018

Movie Review: "Overboard" (2018)

Director: Rob Greenberg
Year: 2018
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes

When the playboy heir to a billion-dollar corporation falls off his yacht and wakes up on the beach with amnesia, a woman he wronged takes the opportunity to get her revenge. She convinces the playboy that he is her husband and forces him to work a blue collar job and do housework while she finishes school to get her nursing degree.
"You showed me your ass and did a number on my self-esteem." (Image Source)
Kidnapping and torturing a man with brain damage could be seen as a problematic plot, but hey, he's a rich asshole, so it puts the story in a moral gray area... right?

"Overboard" is the first theatrically released film directed by Rob Greenberg, who up until now has only directed episodes of various TV shows and made-for-TV movies. Greenberg also helped write the screenplay along with Bob Fisher, and it is a remake of the 1987 film of the same name that was directed by Gary Marshall and written by Leslie Dixon. This version stars Anna Faris as Kate, a single mom of three daughters trying to work her way through nursing school as a pizza delivery person and a carpet cleaner. She is hired by Leonardo (Eugenio Derbez) to clean the carpets on his yacht. Leonardo is a spoiled, womanizing playboy who lives off his father's money. After Kate and Leonardo have a disagreement, he pushes her off his yacht and throws her equipment in the water. A short time later, Leonardo learns that his father is going to leave him his company. This understandably upsets his much more qualified sister Magda (Cecilia Suárez). On the way back to Mexico, a drunk Leonardo falls off the boat and wakes up on the beach with amnesia. His sister denies knowing him in order to get control of the company, leaving him stranded in the hospital. On the insistence of her friend Theresa (Eva Longoria), Kate takes this opportunity to get revenge by convincing Leonardo that he is her husband 'Leo' and that he is a working-class day laborer. While 'Leo' earns an extra paycheck and learns a lesson in humility, Kate focuses on finishing her nursing school classes.
"Maybe next time I ask you to commit a crime, you won't fight me on it." (Image Source)
After watching the trailers for this film, we were expecting it to be one of the worst movies of the year because they were not at all funny. Now that we've seen it, we can say that, while it's still an unnecessary remake, it's not the complete trainwreck we were expecting. It's not a great film, and some may not even call it a good film, but it does manage to elicit some laughs and has a couple moments with a lot of heart. Most of this is due to the charisma and comedic ability of Eugenio Derbez, who owns the screen in each of his scenes. In the case of this story, there are times when his magnetism is actually a hindrance. Even when Derbez is playing up his spoiled, detached, man-child of a playboy character, he's never as despicable as he should be. We are supposed to hate him and grow to love him as he changes his ways, but he really just goes from being a charming spoiled billionaire to a charming blue collar worker. Beyond Derbez, the supporting cast also does a pretty great job, especially Mel Rodriguez, who has some of the most humorous moments in the film. Unfortunately, we can't say the same for Anna Faris. Though she is the main protagonist of this story, she really takes a backseat to everyone else here. We don't know if it's the material she's working with or if it's her lack of ability in a role like this, but she is wholly underutilized despite the fact that we know she is capable of much more. Faris and Derbez also lack a lot of chemistry apart from a few instances here and there. Much like the original, the comedy in this story consists of a lot of slapstick stemming from a fish-out-of-water scenario where Leonardo, who has never worked a day in his life, is forced to make an honest living for once. In that regard, it has the same underlying message of the importance of hard blue collar work and how the wealthy fail to understand what it's like to struggle. Finally, Leonard comes to learn what it's like to care for someone other than himself, mainly Kate's three daughters.
"I feel like I'm stuck in a life that isn't mine." (Image Source)
In the end, "Overboard" is not the disaster we had feared it would be, but it still only borders on being "fine." Watch this one when it comes out on video-on-demand or on Redbox, there's no need to rush out to the theater to see it.

My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.2/10
RT Rating: 30%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.

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