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Overboard is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, written by Leslie Dixon, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and executive produced by Roddy McDowall, who also co-stars alongside Edward Herrmann and Katherine Helmond. The film follows a demeaning, wealthy socialite who suffers from amnesia after falling from her yacht while vacationing on the Oregon Coast, only to be taken in by a working-class carpenter whom she had mistreated.
The film’s soundtrack was composed by Alan Silvestri while the Wright Brothers music used in the film was produced by Gary S. Paxton in Nashville, TN. Although it opened to mixed reviews, it was a box office success. Overboard is considered a classic by some, and has been remade several times. In 1992, it was adapted in the Indian film Ek Ladka Ek Ladki, in 2006, it was adapted into the South Korean television series Couple or Trouble, and in 2018, it was remade with Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez in reversed roles. The plot of the 1997 Malayalam film Mayaponman is loosely based on this film.
Joanna Mintz Stayton is a snobbish socialite accustomed to a life of luxury alongside her husband Grant Stayton III. While waiting for her yacht to be repaired in the fictional fishing village of Elk Cove, Tillamook County, Oregon, Joanna hires carpenter Dean Proffitt, a widower with four sons, to remodel her closet. Dean produces quality work, which she dismisses because he used oak instead of cedar, although she never specifically requested this.
Dean agrees to redo the closet if he is paid for the work he has already done, but Joanna refuses to pay him. The two have an argument, resulting in Joanna angrily throwing Dean and his tool kit into the water. Upon arriving home, he is met by his sons’ principal, who threatens to involve social services, as his sons are undisciplined and struggle in school. Dean, however, is more interested in having fun with his friends than being an attentive parent.
That night, as the yacht sails away, Joanna goes on deck to retrieve her wedding ring, but loses her balance and falls overboard. She is later fished out of the water by a garbage scow. Joanna is taken to the local hospital, suffering from temporary amnesia, although her arrogant personality remains unchanged. Grant eventually learns what happened. Intending to have her fortune to himself, and having had enough of her cruelty, he starts having parties with younger women, lying that Joanna has left him.
After seeing Joanna’s story on the news, Dean seeks revenge by having her work off her unpaid bill. He goes to the hospital and claims that she is his wife and the mother of his sons. She reluctantly goes home with him and is appalled by the family’s ramshackle residence. Joanna initially has difficulty dealing with Dean’s rebellious sons and the household chores, but soon adapts. As she masters her responsibilities, she learns about the boys’ school and family issues, and that Dean is secretly working two jobs to make ends meet. She streamlines the money problems with more efficient budgeting and persuades Dean to be a more responsible father.
Joanna makes Dean’s dream come true by helping him design a miniature golf course. He, however, does not disclose her real identity, fearing that she will leave. Two months later, Joanna’s mother Edith grows suspicious of her daughter’s disappearence and threatens to have Grant hunted down. He is forced to return to retrieve Joanna, whose memory is restored upon seeing him. Realizing that she was manipulated, a distraught Joanna returns with Grant to her yacht, which heads for New York, and she is appalled by how rudely Grant and Edith treat the boat staff. She apologizes to her butler Andrew and the crew Edith’s spiteful treatment towards them, and soon realizes how happy she was with Dean and his sons, prompting her to turn the yacht back towards Elk Cove.
The next morning, Grant discovers that Joanna has changed course, and after she tells him she does not love him, he takes charge of the boat. Dean and the boys arrive on a Coast Guard cutter to rescue Joanna, but are called away due to a sighting of salmon poachers. He runs to the back of the boat and calls out to Joanna. He then jumps into the water to swim to her, and she does the same. Grant furiously takes aim at Joanna with a bow and arrow, only to be booted overboard by Andrew. Joanna reveals to Dean that the yacht and money are hers and not Grant’s.
Joanna and Dean are then brought on board the Coast Guard boat, and Dean’s sons start making out their Christmas lists. Dean asks Joanna what he could possibly give her that she does not already have. She answers, “A little girl”, and they kiss.
Goldie Hawn as Joanna Stayton/Annie Proffitt
Kurt Russell as Dean Proffitt, Annie’s love interest
Edward Herrmann as Grant Stayton III, Joanna’s husband
Katherine Helmond as Edith Mintz, Joanna’s mother
Michael Hagerty as Billy Pratt, Dean’s best friend
Roddy McDowall as Andrew, Joanna’s butler
Jared Rushton as Charlie Proffitt, Dean’s middle second son and Greg’s fraternal twin brother
Jeffrey Wiseman as Joey Proffitt, Dean’s youngest fourth son
Brian Price as Travis Proffitt, Dean’s oldest first son
Jamie Wild as Greg Proffitt, Dean’s middle third son and Charlie’s fraternal twin brother
Harvey Alan Miller as Dr. Norman Korman
Frank Buxton as Wilbur Budd
Doris Hess as Principal Adele Burbridge
Ray Combs as the cop at the hospital
Wright Brothers Band as themselves
Héctor Elizondo as garbage scow skipper (uncredited)
Sven-Ole Thorsen as Olaf (uncredited)
Garry Marshall as drummer (uncredited)
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