1 out of 5 stars (one of the worst films I’ve ever seen)
This article appeared on www.theboldopinion.com on May 14, 2018.
I’ve been reviewing movies since 2005, and I’ve seen a lot of clunkers. From offensive tripe like Daddy’s Home to the incompetence that is Furry Vengeance, I’ve had my fair share of displeasure at the multiplex. However, no theatrically-released film has ever been so awful to the point that I walked out of it. Never has a film so fundamentally misunderstood its premise, characters, and message so badly that I actively had to leave. That is, until I saw the mess that is the unnecessary 2018 remake of Overboard. While the original had depth and thought-provoking commentary while still being a laugh riot, this shipwreck is content to trot out easy jokes without any of the pathos of its predecessor and completely undermines its romantic ending.
This time we get Kate (a totally miscast Anna Faris), a harried mother of 3 girls who works as a carpet cleaner and pizza deliverer. She is called by rich buffoon Leonardo (a cartoonish Eugenio Derbez) to clean his yacht carpet, who fires her after she won’t get him a snack (no, seriously), and throws her and her equipment off the boat. Kate gets a chance for revenge after Leonardo falls off his ship and gets amnesia. She decides to masquerde as his wife, turn him into her slave, and force him to get a construction job (because there’s no way anyone will recognize one of the richest guys in the world, right?) Oh yeah, there’s also a new subplot that really shouldn’t be here about Leo’s sister Magda (Cecilia Suarez) wanting the family company.
This movie is tedious, predictable, and dumb. Characters act ridiculously, the two leads have no chemistry, and any emotion that could have been mined is totally forced and unearned. The producers of this film had no reason to remake this other than brand recognition, and it clearly shows. Skip this Overboard and watch the classic original instead.
Rated PG-13 for Suggestive Material, Partial Nudity, and Language