A mermaid (Daryl Hannah) falls in love with a man (Tom Hanks). According to this movie, when a mermaid's tail completely dries it turns into legs. So, she tracks him down on land. They both immediately fall in love...but he has no idea that she's a mermaid. And a bumbling, evil scientist (Eugene Levy) knows she is and will do anything to prove it...
This was a HUGE hit in 1984--but I fail to see why. It has it's good points--it's beautifully directed by Ron Howard (the underwater sequences are magical). Dody Goodman throws in some truly funny moments as Hanks' scatterbrained secretary. Hannah is unbelievably beautiful and letter perfect as the mermaid--when she's stumbling around nude on dry land (mermaids don't wear clothes) her utter innocence is totally believable and very engaging. It's refreshing that this was given a PG rating despite the frequent glimpses of Hannahs' breasts. Also her getting used to life on land is very sweet. And Hanks (looking like a little kid) is very good and has a few laugh out loud lines in the movie. But that's about it.
I found the movie very slow (this does NOT need to go on for 2 hours); Levy was horribly unfunny as the scientist; John Candy (who could be good in the right role) is also unfunny as Hanks' brother; there are plot loopholes you could drive a truck through; I really didn't find it all that funny (I think I laughed 5 times--that's not good for a 2 hour movie); we have the boringly predictable military as the enemy role and there's an ending I just couldn't buy at all.
The only scenes that really work are with Hannah and Hanks. They have zero chemistry between them but they're both very good in their respective roles. And there are some nice directorial touches by Howard (it's hard to believe this was only his third film).
I can only give this a 5. I was bored most of the time.
This was a HUGE hit in 1984--but I fail to see why. It has it's good points--it's beautifully directed by Ron Howard (the underwater sequences are magical). Dody Goodman throws in some truly funny moments as Hanks' scatterbrained secretary. Hannah is unbelievably beautiful and letter perfect as the mermaid--when she's stumbling around nude on dry land (mermaids don't wear clothes) her utter innocence is totally believable and very engaging. It's refreshing that this was given a PG rating despite the frequent glimpses of Hannahs' breasts. Also her getting used to life on land is very sweet. And Hanks (looking like a little kid) is very good and has a few laugh out loud lines in the movie. But that's about it.
I found the movie very slow (this does NOT need to go on for 2 hours); Levy was horribly unfunny as the scientist; John Candy (who could be good in the right role) is also unfunny as Hanks' brother; there are plot loopholes you could drive a truck through; I really didn't find it all that funny (I think I laughed 5 times--that's not good for a 2 hour movie); we have the boringly predictable military as the enemy role and there's an ending I just couldn't buy at all.
The only scenes that really work are with Hannah and Hanks. They have zero chemistry between them but they're both very good in their respective roles. And there are some nice directorial touches by Howard (it's hard to believe this was only his third film).
I can only give this a 5. I was bored most of the time.