Splash

Splash is a really well-made Hollywood fantasy comedy, with early Tom Hanks already developing into the charismatic everyman and Darryl Hannah and John Candy at their best. But under the comedy and sweetness I have always thought there was a disturbing undertone of extreme pessimism--just what kind of ugly and cruel society do we live in, in which the mermaid Madison's only prospect is that she will be tortured, from which Hanks' character ultimately has to flee, never to see his beloved brother again? (The same dark undertone is even more pronounced, I think, in Ron Howard's next big hit Cocoon, where the old folks willingly escape an earth and families that don't seem to offer them anything anymore.)

Clever man meets mermaid comedy with Hanks fitting the bill as a lonely New York bachelor who falls in love with winsome mermaid Hannah. Candy is also delightful as Hanks' irresponsible brother. The script is very funny and director Howard has a wonderful eye for the sentimental and satiric.

Upon my initial viewing of Splash (1984), I really didn't know what to expect other than some silly old fantasy-romance film about Woody's voice actor falling in love with a non-redhead fish-lady. But to my delight, the film had quite a fair bit of well-timed comedy that was surprisingly good and not agonisingly painful to sit through (unlike the case with most torturous romantic-comedies I can think of). And speaking of things that are agonisingly painful to sit through, I thought the whole romantic angle with our two extremely-compelling leads was going to bore me to tears but it actually worked miraculously for me as Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah both have some rather sweet and charming chemistry together when portraying their respective characters on-screen. Full disclosure; I'm usually not the kind of guy who normally goes for a typical romance film (not one with a real-world setting, at least) as the love connection between the main characters just never seems to be convincing enough for me to truly believe in it. But in the case of this genre incorporating some fictional type of fantasy element, then I'm willing to make an exception (what can I say? I'm just a sucker for a pretty mermaid, I guess).

The entire time watching this, I was quite taken aback by the design style and overall appearance they went with for the film's mermaid, with "Madison" having golden-blonde hair and an orangey-red fishtail (it somehow didn't feel right to me). It may just only be me and I might be completely alone on this opinion of mine but after first seeing The Little Mermaid (1989) at a very young age, I suppose I'm always going to think of a mermaid's contrasting colour-tone as more of a crimson-red hairdo and emerald-green tail-fins with nice shiny fish-scales (I'm probably too far gone to picture anything else, at this point in time). But after a brief adjustment period, I now think I'm content with her look and have even grown to like it (yep, I still thought she was kind of cute in her own unique way). Unsurprisingly, The Disney Company decided to release this under the label of their recently-established Touchstone distribution banner as its romantic plot-line dealt with the somewhat risqué subject matter of presenting the audience with a half-naked woman's bare-body in a magical context. As such, this meant it wasn't suitable for being family-friendly PG material and so with that it rightfully came to earn more of a 12A age-rating.

I thought leading lady Daryl Hannah was really great in the role, and that's the thing which shocked me most of all because I found everything else I've seen her in to be not that good; Clan or the Cave Bear (1986) was just OK even if a tad underwhelming, I haven't seen the Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993) remake but I take it it's better than the original one, and I didn't even make it to the end of boring old Blade Runner (1982). In Splash, most of the comedy stems from her compelling naivety and I honestly found her little interactions with different things on land to be genuinely amusing (and F. Y. I.; being naive isn't the same as being stupid, as it simply means the character is smart but just doesn't know any better when thrown into uncertain situations that are unfamiliar to them). There's a myriad of comedic potential you could mine from a funny concept such as this (in a literal "fish-out-of-water" scenario), and it very much reminds me of how Ariel acted in The Little Mermaid (1989) when she was totally enamoured with our human culture and wanted to learn everything there is to know about the surface world above. I simply love characters like that, having their personalities constantly radiating with intrigue the whole time (it's the simple stuff like this that I really appreciate and ultimately look for in a right good movie).

I felt like director Ron Howard did a pretty good job with this film. To be honest, most of his filmography consists of movies that I have very mixed opinions on. However, I personally feel there's been more hits than misses when it comes to some of his more earlier works. I am aware of the fact that the film's story was followed up on with a perfectly passable made-for-TV sequel a few years later, titled Splash Too (1988). But I think it has the same fundamental issue the Grease 2 (1982) failure had where the studios have a really successful movie on their hands and they didn't know what to do with it, so they end up retreating a lot of the same ground as before by trying to recapture that same magic they had the first time around (only thing is, you can't catch lighting in a bottle twice). And suffice to say although it was a decent watch, it wasn't able to fully recreate what it was that made the first one's quality so endearingly special.

Over-achieving little film that was directed by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks as a young man who finds the woman of his dreams (Daryl Hannah). The only problem: she is really a mermaid. A smart screenplay and some real drama in the film save this project which could have been a disaster, but ends up being a nice piece of entertainment. Eugene Levi and John Candy are appropriately hilarious in supporting turns. 4 stars out of 5.

Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are legendary names in Hollywood today, and it's impressive how far they've come from a story about a woman emerging naked from the sea to flop into the arms of a 20-something produce distributor.

Distilled to its essence, "Splash" is just that – a lonely bachelor's fantasy played out on screen. It's what writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (who previously collaborated with Howard and Grazer on "Night Shift"), with Bruce Jay Friedman ("Stir Crazy") do to craft this hetero-male daydream into an entertaining fish-out-of- water story (literally?) that gives it real legs (sorry).

Although viewers (mostly men) will be drawn to this fantasy pretty quickly, Daryl Hannah also gets to play a goofy, atypical female lead role, which can't be underestimated in the film's success. Whether it's chomping through a lobster shell with her teeth, prancing through Bloomingdale's or just getting her fins wet in the bathtub, there's both a confidence/strength and a shyness/reserved nature to Madison – whose given name is the direct reason why you know a young woman born after 1984 named Madison. Talk about cultural impact.

So much is right with Hannah's performance. An actress with more of a name or acclaim at the time might have made Madison into more of a caricature or been distractingly attractive (given how much the camera ogles her). Hannah is alluring, mysterious and quirky in a believable way. The film's funniest moments are of her gleeful misunderstandings of American culture.

In his first big role, Hanks gives us a taste of what has made him lovable over the years. Allen is a strange and sad guy, especially in the beginning; Hanks has always done the part of the loser really well in terms of his comedic roles. He's at his best when he's frustrated, angry or desperate as Allen, but most of all he's enough of an everyman that he earns audience empathy and sympathy as a "good guy." That's all this film requires of him.

"Splash" primarily holds up due to a few clutch moments that merge fantasy and everyday comedy. Whether it's naked Madison emerging on Liberty Island and not thinking anything of it, the excellent bathtub scene or the deranged Walter Kornbluth's (Eugene Levy) attempts to expose Madison to the world, these create highly memorable and impressionable moments whether you're a kid seeing this movie on TV for the first time or a casual fan of light comedy looking to be entertained.

With a little more story and character development (Why is there a coral reef in Cape Cod and why would a mermaid be there on her own?) and the avoidance of deus ex machina, "Splash" could have even gone beyond fantastical comedy and become something a little more meaningful. The potential is definitely apparent with these two lovers from different worlds and society's fascination with things like mermaids working against them. Nevertheless, it belongs among the '80s staples and deserves some credit for leading to all the successful Howard/Grazer team-ups and Hanks hits.

~Steven C

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