Overboard (1987)

Joanna Stayton is a rich, pampered and pretentious yacht owing socialite. When her boat gets stuck in port for repairs she decides to employ the services of local carpenter Dean Proffitt to improve her closet. When Dean asks Joanna for the money for his completed work, she flatly refuses and claims that he's used the wrong type of wood for the job. Dean unsurprisingly refuses to leave the yacht until he is paid, so he and his tools are pushed overboard. Not only has he not been paid, but he's just lost all of his valuable tools. Naturally, Dean is not too pleased.

When the yacht heads back out to sea Joanna manages to fall overboard without anyone noticing. She is soon rescued by a passing fishing boat but is found to be suffering from an acute case of amnesia. When her henpecked husband, Grant, finally notices that she is missing he heads down to the local hospital and sees yet another tantrum in progress. Grant decides he can live without this and abandons her.

When Dean sees a television report on the mystery woman, he notices who she actually is. With revenge in mind he decides to take advantage of the situation and claims that Joanna is in fact his wife. With the doctors at the hospital desperate to get rid of her they have no problem with his beloved "Annie" being taken away. So Dean takes her home and introduces Annie to her four unruly children, a couch and a house that is definitely in need of some attention.

For a film which is over twenty years old the picture is in surprisingly good condition with some rich and vibrant colour tones. Mind you, this doesn't mean that everything is perfect as it can still be quite grainy at times with the occasional dust speck and scratch. Fortunately, the bit-rate remains above average and there are no signs of any artifacting or outlining.

The surround sound soundtrack is about as plain and uneventful as you can get, but for a film of this vintage and genre you can't really be expecting anything else. However, the dialogue is clear enough and without the masses of explosions expected of action films there is never any need to adjust the volume.

The menu is a static and boring affair with just the theatrical trailer thrown in. It's a pity MGM couldn't find any additional material, especially since it's such a classic. It's unfortunate that the various film companies can't spend more time and effort on their back catalogue titles, although I guess any additional material for this title would be fairly hard to come by.

This is a wonderful film which can be watched over and over again by all members of the household. Although father time has not been kind to the clothes or other members of the cast, the effervescent Goldie Hawn seems to obtained a "get out of jail" card and is as jolly and attractive today as she was way back in 1987.

With hundreds of romantic comedies floating around the shelves of video stores, Overboard still manages to stand out as one of the best, especially with its "Awww" ending. So, whenever you are feeling a little down this is the perfect pick-you-up. Highly Recommended.