285. Overboard; movie review

OVERBOARD
Cert 12A
112 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references, bleeped strong language

There is no mistaking that Anna Faris plays the same old role of the bubbly blonde who everyone loves during Overboard.
On the other hand, the movie tugs at the heart strings in the way a souffle-light rom com should.
Rob Greenberg's film is a remake of the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell's movie of 1987 with a couple of twists.
This time the arrogant billionaire is the fella (Eugenio Derbez) and he suffers amnesia after being awful to his carpet cleaner (Faris) and later falling into the sea.
And the other difference is a cross-culture element with Derbez's character, Leonardo, being from Mexico while Faris's Kate is all-American.
Anyway, she is a widowed mother-of-three who is holding down three jobs while trying to study to be a nurse.
Thus, she needs help and when she sees a news story about him being in hospital without a memory, she joins with her pal (Eva Longoria) to take advantage.
Overboard is an amiable farce with a not-too-serious rich versus poor backdrop.
In Faris it guarantees a likeable female lead who combines ditzy and family values and Derbez provides a nicely exaggerated foil.
It succeeds in its aim of cutting across cultures and nods to its original without being slavish to it.
However, it cannot score any more than 6.5/10 because it is only amusing and not funny. I am afraid I only chuckled a couple of times.

Reasons to watch: Easygoing comedy
Reasons to avoid: Anna Faris doing the same old thing

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Rob Greenberg: "When we were approached to remake it and split the gender and join the cultures, it immediately became interesting."

the big question - Can Anna Faris act or is this just her?

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