Post by Vits on Jan 1, 2019 12:37:12 GMT
OVERBOARD 2018 takes the creepy premise of OVERBOARD 1987 (a rich person gets amnesia and a poor person says that they're married) and improves on a lot of details:
-In the original, carpenter DEAN PROFFITT came up with the scheme. Here, nurse KATE SULLIVAN doesn't. One of her friends does. I'm not saying this makes her innocent, just less conniving.
-In the original, DEAN did this to get back at JOANNA STAYTON for being mean to him and for not paying him what she owed him. At one point, he sang about her being his slave to the tune of ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH. Yes, the melody from SONG OF THE SOUTH, a movie known for showing African-American slavery in a positive way. Man, this movie wanted to make us feel uncomfortable in different levels, don't you think? Here, KATE does want to get back at LEONARDO MONTENEGRO for the same reason, but her main motivation is to have someone take care of the things she can't (she's a single mom who studying in college and has more than 1 job (yes, she's basically CHRISTY PLUNKETT from MOM)).
-When DEAN sees JOANNA at the hospital, he said "Let's see if this makes you remember me" and he kissed her while she resisted. Here, KATE keeps a distance for the most part. In fact, LEONARDO wants to have sex during the first couple of nights and she repeatedly turns him down.
Unfortunately, there are things that are worse in this remake:
-In the original, actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell had a "I'm almost making you forget how unlikeable my character is" type of charisma and their performances aren't really comedic. I didn't laugh many times, but the script was to blame for that. Here, comedians Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris only play it straight during the moments that are meant to be dramatic. Their performances aren't bad at all but, by trying to funny, they (most likely without realizing it) don't allow for the jokes to make us laugh on their own. As a result, I laughed even less times.
-In the original, DEAN & JOANNA had a TAMING OF THE SHREW type of relationship. She didn't take his shit nor his sons', which is why they were equal. Here, LEONARDO stands up for himself very few times.
-In the original, GRANT STAYTON III pretended to not know his wife JOANNA and left her in the hospital because he couldn't stand her and because he wanted to party with lots of women. That was wrong of him. Here, MAGDALENA MONTENEGRO pretends not to know her brother LEONARDO and leaves him in the hospital so she can be in charge of the family company. That's not right, but it's a little understandable. She is more suited for the job. LEONARDO doesn't know how to do anything by himself and only cares about partying with lots of women. It felt to me like their father had only chosen LEONARDO for being a man, but the movie never confirms it. Why did this gender-reversal remake wasted an opportunity to address sexism?
-In the original, DEAN didn't have evidence that JOANNA was his wife, but he had seen a birthmark in her butt by accident. He described it and she believed him. Here, LEONARDO says he needs to see real proof after KATE has shown him all kinds of documents and photos. Yes, those things are easier to fake nowadays (which is why she got them in the first place), but he never said so. It comes off as him being illogical for no reason. She had seen a tattoo in his butt by accident (well, sort of). She described it and they all believe her. Wait. When he was wondering through the streets, he was only wearing a robe. At one point, his butt was exposed. Anyone could've seen the tattoo. Why does this convince him?
There are also some flaws that weren't altered in this new version (so they're still flaws):
-JOANNA and LEONARDO speak French all of the sudden and wonder why. DEAN and KATE try to come up with a complicated explanation. Why? Lots of people speak more than 1 language. Hell, KATE and one of her daugthers already knew Spanish before meeting LEONARDO. It's just a contrived attempt at humour.
-The protagonists start to fall in love for real and then they have sex. However, since JOANNA and LEONARDO still have amnesia, what DEAN and KATE are doing is borderline rape.
Finally, this movie has flaws on its own:
-There are 2 new characters (KATE's mom and a construction worker) who don't know each other and have no scenes together, and yet, they happen to have the same dream (becoming professional performers). Both subplots go nowhere.
-There's a scene where the family is riding bicycles and KATE notices that her youngest daughter doesn't have training wheels anymore... after riding for who knows how long.
4/10 (for both)
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-In the original, carpenter DEAN PROFFITT came up with the scheme. Here, nurse KATE SULLIVAN doesn't. One of her friends does. I'm not saying this makes her innocent, just less conniving.
-In the original, DEAN did this to get back at JOANNA STAYTON for being mean to him and for not paying him what she owed him. At one point, he sang about her being his slave to the tune of ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH. Yes, the melody from SONG OF THE SOUTH, a movie known for showing African-American slavery in a positive way. Man, this movie wanted to make us feel uncomfortable in different levels, don't you think? Here, KATE does want to get back at LEONARDO MONTENEGRO for the same reason, but her main motivation is to have someone take care of the things she can't (she's a single mom who studying in college and has more than 1 job (yes, she's basically CHRISTY PLUNKETT from MOM)).
-When DEAN sees JOANNA at the hospital, he said "Let's see if this makes you remember me" and he kissed her while she resisted. Here, KATE keeps a distance for the most part. In fact, LEONARDO wants to have sex during the first couple of nights and she repeatedly turns him down.
-In the original, when the lie was revealed and JOANNA was about to leave, DEAN said "For what it's worth... Thank you." Here, when the lie is revealed and LEONARDO is about to leave, KATE says "For what it's worth... I'm sorry... and thank you."
Unfortunately, there are things that are worse in this remake:
-In the original, actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell had a "I'm almost making you forget how unlikeable my character is" type of charisma and their performances aren't really comedic. I didn't laugh many times, but the script was to blame for that. Here, comedians Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris only play it straight during the moments that are meant to be dramatic. Their performances aren't bad at all but, by trying to funny, they (most likely without realizing it) don't allow for the jokes to make us laugh on their own. As a result, I laughed even less times.
-In the original, DEAN & JOANNA had a TAMING OF THE SHREW type of relationship. She didn't take his shit nor his sons', which is why they were equal. Here, LEONARDO stands up for himself very few times.
-In the original, GRANT STAYTON III pretended to not know his wife JOANNA and left her in the hospital because he couldn't stand her and because he wanted to party with lots of women. That was wrong of him. Here, MAGDALENA MONTENEGRO pretends not to know her brother LEONARDO and leaves him in the hospital so she can be in charge of the family company. That's not right, but it's a little understandable. She is more suited for the job. LEONARDO doesn't know how to do anything by himself and only cares about partying with lots of women. It felt to me like their father had only chosen LEONARDO for being a man, but the movie never confirms it. Why did this gender-reversal remake wasted an opportunity to address sexism?
-In the original, DEAN didn't have evidence that JOANNA was his wife, but he had seen a birthmark in her butt by accident. He described it and she believed him. Here, LEONARDO says he needs to see real proof after KATE has shown him all kinds of documents and photos. Yes, those things are easier to fake nowadays (which is why she got them in the first place), but he never said so. It comes off as him being illogical for no reason. She had seen a tattoo in his butt by accident (well, sort of). She described it and they all believe her. Wait. When he was wondering through the streets, he was only wearing a robe. At one point, his butt was exposed. Anyone could've seen the tattoo. Why does this convince him?
-In the original, JOANNA leaves her husband to be with DEAN and then lets him know that she'll keep a lot of her fortune. Here, LEONARDO turns down the job to be with KATE, but hesitates when his dad threatens to stop supporting him financially. The scene was written as a direct parody of the other version, even though the rest of the movie isn't like that, so it feels out of place. Also, after LEONARDO still chooses KATE, he's eventually told a way in which he can still get a lot of money. So what was the point of all that?!
There are also some flaws that weren't altered in this new version (so they're still flaws):
-JOANNA and LEONARDO speak French all of the sudden and wonder why. DEAN and KATE try to come up with a complicated explanation. Why? Lots of people speak more than 1 language. Hell, KATE and one of her daugthers already knew Spanish before meeting LEONARDO. It's just a contrived attempt at humour.
-The protagonists start to fall in love for real and then they have sex. However, since JOANNA and LEONARDO still have amnesia, what DEAN and KATE are doing is borderline rape.
-The final scenes with the characters making up were written as if they had overcome a problem and could finally be happy. That's not really accurate. In fact, after the lie is revealed, nobody thinks of calling the police. Why not?
Finally, this movie has flaws on its own:
-There are 2 new characters (KATE's mom and a construction worker) who don't know each other and have no scenes together, and yet, they happen to have the same dream (becoming professional performers). Both subplots go nowhere.
-There's a scene where the family is riding bicycles and KATE notices that her youngest daughter doesn't have training wheels anymore... after riding for who knows how long.
4/10 (for both)
-------------------------------------
You can read comments of other movies in my blog.
