Splash (1983) User Reviews (140)

Lovable, memorable blend of fantasy and comedy that launched important careers

[Movie_Muse_Reviews · 7/10 · 14 November 2017]

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

Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Well-made comedy with a disturbing undertone of pessimism

[PayOrPlay · 7/10 · 15 August 2002]

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.)

She Was The Woman Of His Dreams - She Had Large Dark Eyes, A Beautiful Smile And A Great Pair Of Fins.

[Lady_Targaryen · 7/10 · 29 March 2006]

Allen Bauer is a responsible guy,the very opposite of his brother Freddie Bauer, who only thinks about women and to spend money. Allen feels lonely sometimes, but he never really fell in love with any women he already have dated or stayed. One day, Allen decides to go to Cape Cod to enjoy the sea, a place where he feels mysteriously good, but he falls into the sea by accident and since he doesn't know how to swim, is saved by a mysterious and beautiful woman,who runs away soon after Allen recovers his conscience. The beautiful woman stayed with Allen's documents, and decides to search him in New York after some days. Once they met, they fall in love and Allen finally do whatever it takes to stay near a woman. The only thing he doesn't know yet, is that the beautiful and mysterious woman named Madison,is part of his childhood and also has a nature different from the human.

Ps: Daryl Hannah is really beautiful in this movie! Tom Hanks as well! ps2:This is the first time I see Eugene Levy in the role of the bad guy.

aka "Splash-Uma sereia em minha vida" - Brazil

Lovely romantic fish-out-of-water comedy

[george.schmidt · 22 April 2003]

SPLASH (1984) **** Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Shecky Greene. Excellent fantasy comedy directed by Ron Howard about produce salesman Hanks who, unbeknownst to him, falls in love with a mermaid (innocently played nicely by Hannah) in Manhattan and asking the immortal question: Is love blind? Superb support ably handled by Candy as Hanks' would-be swinging bachelor brother and Levy as a mad-as-a-hatter obsessed marine biologist intent on exposing Madison (named after the avenue). Best bits: Hanks' opening soliloquy about him not finding love in a bar and Hannah's gift of love: a water fountain.

Sic Transit Gloria Maris.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 2 March 2012]

This amusing fantasy about a love affair between an ordinary working New Yorker (Hanks) and a mermaid (Hannah) could have been made a generation ago by Walt Disney except for one marvelous -- and, in my opinion, highly artistic -- scene in which Daryl Hannah emerges from New York harbor wearing a pair of supernally beautiful legs and nothing else. Her naked buns, paragons of sensual grace in themselves, would probably have made old Walt think twice, although any normal man would want to jump on her and squeeze and bite them.

Hanks has met her by accident, literally, and she's everything a guy like Hanks could want. She seeks him out in New York, moves in with him, learns to speak and dress properly, loves him deeply (as only a mermaid can love deeply), and is a sexual dynamo. There is no anatomical difficulty with this since when she's out of the water, Hannah has those legs. It's only IN water, or splashed by it, that her piscatorial particulars reappear. Eugene Levy, as an ill-tempered and egomaniacal ichthyologist, feels there's something fishy about this stunning catch of the day. The movie is funny but Levy brings it to a loopy climax that the kids will love. The ending, though wistful, is basically a happy one. They have both learned what true love is. They have "gotten in touch with their feelings." (I love that phrase.) Ron Howard, the director, would never dream of having the audience leaving the theater without a glow.

Since it's intended to be a fantasy, we can skip the illogic of the plot. Well, not "illogic." Just an absence of logic. She learns to speak English in one afternoon just by watching television. Well, why not? Peter Sellars learned how to live by watching television a few years earlier. Still, one wonders where she learned to kiss so hungrily, fresh from the sea.

At any rate, most of the humor is of the "cute" variety rather than sophisticated and edgy. This is Ron Howard, not Billy Wilder. Hanks asks her name. She tells him in Ichthyese and it shatters every television screen in sight. So they stroll through the streets of the city and try to dream up a plausible English name for her. They reach Madison Avenue. "Madison!" Well, again, why not? Some of the scenes are worthy of chuckles as well as smiles. Taken to a fancy restaurant, she gets a lobster for dinner and eats the whole thing, shell and all, in an incident similar to one in Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness."

To truly enjoy this film requires an imagination more deft than the usual at the suspension of disbelief. You should be really good at it.

Took me all these years to finally see Splash

[walkingwithprimeval · 7/10 · 23 June 2021]

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.

We Flow Together Once & Forever Love Came For Me

[gnowaczek · 7/10 · 31 July 2015]

My brother bought this for me on DVD as a Christmas gift in 2006, every year on Valentine's Day I watch it because I'm a big fan of the romantic comedy genre.

Director Ron Howard with the help of writing team Babaloo Mandel & Lowell Ganz created a timeless, funny and enchanting romantic comedy that's so magical it's also classic. The cast is well selected, Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood's brightest stars I remember seeing him on television as Kip Wilson from Bosom Buddies and Ned Donnelly from a few episodes of Family Ties. His portrayal of a lonely businessman who falls for a woman with a secret was comical and sweet.

Darryl Hannah is lovely and whimsical as the mermaid, she doesn't act like a dumb blonde but rather a curious beauty trying to navigate through a world she's never been in before. The chemistry between her & Hanks is smart & touching. John Candy's break out role as Freddie Bauer Allen's older, bachelor womanizing brother was a laugh a minute great. There's a memorable scene in which Allen, Freddie and Dr. Kornbluth played by the brilliant Eugene Levy make a rescue plan to save Madison. She tells him not to feel guilty about not loving her anymore, He says "Oh Madison". "All the time we were together, you always knew how I was feeling. Can't you tell now? then they kissed. The song Love Came For Me sung by Rita Coolidge during the part where the happy couple swims away together and while the credits rolled was a moving moment.

Splash is one of 1984's best films not just for the comedy but also for the romantic fantasy displayed,I'd give it a 6.9/10.

Original and not bad, but not great either

[funtasticfour · 6/10 · 2 April 2020]

For some reason I never saw this as a kid. Perhaps it was the threat of possible nudity or something, or maybe I wasn't interested because it was mushy. Either way, I've finally watched it and it's fairly mediocre. Not much for laughs or story. It was nice to see John Candy again, but also surprising that this was even on Disney +

One of the most charming and irresistible romantic comedies ever!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 17 November 2009]

I will admit there have been some romantic comedies I have not liked, and others I have. One thing for certain though, I adore Splash! It is a beautiful, charming and sweet romantic comedy that has quickly become a favourite of mine. For instance the whole film is beautifully shot, with lovely cinematography and stunning underwater sequences. Plus New York looks absolutely gorgeous here.

The music is also delightful. The song in the end credits was so beautiful, I nearly cried. Maybe it was also to do with how it is sung; the vocals were sublime, and never spoiled the mood of the song. The script is funny and touching, more the latter than the former, but who cares? There are still some funny parts of the movie. The direction from Ron Howard was secure and focused throughout.

There were so many charming scenes in Splash! The ending certainly was exactly that, and a bit of a tear jerker as well. Another charming scene that springs to mind was the ice skating scene. Not only how it was filmed, but also the music featured. A perfect choice of music for that particular scene, the Skaters Waltz. I also thought that the movie's length was perfect, and the pacing was just fine.

And I can't write this review without mentioning the performances. Every single person did a superb job. Tom Hanks is charismatic and likable enough and was perfectly cast as Allan Bauer, a successful businessman who falls in love with a beautiful mermaid named Maddison. Speaking of Maddison, didn't Daryl Hannah look gorgeous here? She is a generally ignored actress, and she was positively charming. Eugene Levy plays a sort of bad guy, and he is funny as well as detestable. However, the film's humour comes from the late John Candy who is hilarious as Allan's brother.

All in all, I adore this movie. Out of all the romantic comedies I have seen, this has to be the most charming and possibly irresistible. I have been vocal before about not trying to take IMDb ratings to heart, but 6.2 is too low for this movie. It does deserve a higher rating than that. While not the best movie ever made, it is certainly one of my all time favourite movies for a number of reasons. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Young, But Not-So-Innocent

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 31 May 2007]

In 1999, I was somewhat shocked to discover this was not the sweet, innocent movie I had remembered from watching it on the big screen 15 years earlier. There was a lot more profanity than I had recalled and tons of sexual innuendos. I was sorry to hear John Candy, who I always liked, use the Lord's name in vain so much.

On the good side, the film still moves very fast, meaning the story is very entertaining. It's another shock to look at this now and see how young Tom Hanks looks. Darryl Hannah, meanwhile, looks just beautiful. I'll think she'll always be remembered as a mermaid (among other things, since she apparently still likes to see herself in the news from time to time.)

Cheap, vulgar comedy

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 7 June 2001]

Unlucky-in-love Tom Hanks falls for a beautiful blonde with a secret...she's a mermaid. Hanks is very young and very green in this movie, his voice has no range and he's whiny instead of appealing (and the jokes he's given, such as having "sex on top of the refrigerator", don't work because who wants to picture Hanks in such a situation?). Tom's transformation into a heel at the midway point is another liability (he's so cold to Daryl Hannah's mermaid that it's tough to forgive him even at the end). Witless antics with third-rate humor, leering overtures by John Candy as Hanks' slob brother, leaden pacing and ugly photography. The only saving grace is Hannah, who is enchanting in a role she was born to play. Too bad she's not in a better picture. ** from ****

An 80's Love Story CLASSIC! Great Movie!

[gpmac · 10/10 · 20 November 2003]

If you grew up in the 80's, you can see why this movie still is a great classic! Great acting from Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah and a story line that can be taken funny as well as seriously. If you didn't see this movie in the 80's you probably won't appreciate it that much. I would rank it with other greats such as Teen Wolf, Heathers, etc. "Behold, the mermaid!"..lol..

Nice cast and a funny romantic story.

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 3 March 2010]

This was an early film in the career of Tom Hanks, one of his first successful movies. He would go on to be somewhat hit and somewhat miss throughout the 1980's and become more of a guaranteed hit maker in the 1990's and 2000's. Here he stars alongside a very attractive Daryl Hannah in a nice little romantic comedy that at one point gets rather risqué for a PG rated movie during a certain emerging at the Statue of Liberty scene. The film also features SCTV alum John Candy and Eugene Levy both of whom are hilarious in this one. Candy as Hanks' slightly sex obsessed brother and Levy as a researcher who is a bit of a jerk. The story involves Hanks' character who has an accident as a child and falls into the ocean only to encounter a little girl mermaid. Flash years later and he is all grown up and he ends up having an accident at sea and ends up unconscious underwater only to be rescued by a very beautiful lady who later turns up in New York and the two of them hit it off swimmingly. Well of course the lady is the little girl mermaid and Levy's character who also encountered is determined to expose her for the half woman and half fish that she is. Nice movie with good comedy, I loved the moron twins and the secretary who got some lightening to the head. Some of the story seems a bit out there though and at times the movie gets a bit to sappy and the ending kind of did not make any sense. Overall though I thought it was rather good. They would later make a sequel that was a made for television sequel, but I have no urge to see that one.

Just OK

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 6 February 2004]

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.

Early Tom Hanks/Ron Howard.

[tfrizzell · 8 June 2002]

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.

Is That Daryl Hannah in Your Bathtub?

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 17 March 2008]

Before both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks became known for making gooey message movies, they teamed up on this very likable comedy.

Hanks plays a man searching for love and finds it in the form of Daryl Hannah. Unfortunately, his dream woman has the habit of growing a tail and gills whenever she gets wet, though in Hanks's world, this isn't necessarily a deal breaker. Eugene Levy is a scientist who wants to capture the mermaid for his own fame, and John Candy is Hanks's loud-mouth brother.

Full of memorable scenes, like Hannah scarfing down a lobster, shell and all, at a posh restaurant. Hanks's reply to the disapproving looks of the diners sitting near them: "She's really hungry."

Grade: B+

Funny 80's RomCom 7.5/10

[welhof1 · 7/10 · 12 January 2021]

Tom Hanks was his usual charming self. He has a tendency to scream a lot in his 80's movies and in this one he didn't thankfully. Daryl Hannah is beautiful and quite a good actress. Candy and Levy were also great in this.

The movie had a lot of funny moments in it. It didn't take itself seriously which was smart.

The ending was a little ambiguous. We're they leaving it open for a sequel?

A Mermaid

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 8 December 2013]

Ron Howard directed this hit comedy that stars Tom Hanks as harried businessman Allen Bauer, who as a young boy almost drowned off Cape Cod, but a young mermaid saved his life, and many years later as adults, when the same thing happens again, the mermaid(played by Daryl Hannah) follows Allen home to New York, where she comes ashore nude, making quite an entrance! After Allen takes her home, and names her Madison, they fall in love, which is tested when her secret comes out, and unscrupulous scientists(led by Eugene Levy) want to study her, which will mean her eventual death. John Candy costars as his brother Freddie. Appealing comedy nearly goes off the rails with the kidnapping subplot, but manages to right itself by the end. Good cast helps.

Cheesy, Fun 80s Movie

[grotoieguy · 7/10 · 28 January 2019]

This movie is great if you're just looking for a fun movie to watch that doesn't take too much brain power. Tom Hanks at his finest, and a really solid supporting cast.

How to make love to a fish. Classic eighties romantic comedy, which made Tom Hanks world famous overnight!

[imseeg · 8/10 · 19 September 2018]

How to make love to a fish. That would sum up the bizarre story of this sweet and wild comedy featuring fantastic roles by Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah.

However ludicrous the story might be, the movie really entices me with its wit and charm. Lovely and funny. Hilarious supporting role by John Candy, one of his best.

The story is really about falling in love with a mermaid, played by Darryl Hannah. She is human out of the water and only becomes a fish in the water. Can fish and human get together and fall in love? Wait and see.

Recommended for all ages. This is one heck of a great family film, wich could be enjoyed by young and old.

The true star of this movie is undeniably Tom Hanks. The youthful energy of Tom Hanks just splashes across the screen in this movie. This movie launched his career way back in the eighties.

I recently saw an old David Letterman interview with Tom Hanks prior to the release of this movie, and man, did they NOT know back then how BIG Tom Hanks and this movie would become!

Hanks, in his younger years, was an uncontrollable force of comedy and wild antics. Seen it over 10 times by now, for sure. For every Tom Hanks fan this great comedy is a must watch. For anyone else just longing for a hilarious romantic comedy, they dont come much better than this!!!

"Good 80's Romantic Fantasy-Comedy!"

[gwnightscream · 7/10 · 17 December 2014]

Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy and John Candy star in Ron Howard's 1984 fantasy-comedy. This takes place in New York and Hanks (Big) plays Allen Bauer, a produce supplier who hasn't found love. That changes when he meets a mysterious woman, Madison (Hannah) who saves his life in Cape Cod. He eventually learns she's no ordinary woman, but a mermaid who also saved his life as a child. Levy (American Pie) plays scientist, Walter Kornbluth who runs into bad luck and the late, Candy (Planes, Trains & Automobiles) plays Allen's free-spirited, older brother, Freddie. This is a good 80's flick with a good cast & Hanks & Hannah have good chemistry. I recommend this.

Go Fish

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 24 June 2010]

While boating off Cape Cod, Manhattan fruit and vegetable salesman Tom Hanks (as Alan Bauer) suffers a knock on the head. The mishap leaves him overboard and underwater. Mr. Hanks can't swim, but is saved by mermaid Daryl Hannah (as "Madison"). The two met there briefly, some twenty years earlier, under similar circumstances. After planting the proverbial wet one on Hanks' sandy lips, Ms. Hannah returns to the waves. Hannah has her mermaid tail while in the water; but, she grows long, beautiful legs on land.

Hananh finds Hanks' wallet and goes looking for him in New York City, where she acts like a fish out of water. SCTV funny-men Eugene Levy (as Walter) and John Candy (s Freddie) try to choke some laughs out of their roles, but the comedy herein is dead in the water. The film is inexplicably long and disjointed, with Hannah's charming and sexy performance being the only thing keeping it afloat.

Barely.

**** Splash (3/9/84) Ron Howard ~ Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy.

A man and his mermaid.

[triple8 · 10/10 · 16 August 2003]

I happen to enjoy romantic comedies and through the years have seen some great ones(Dirty Dancing, Toosie, Pretty Woman to name a few.) But Splash is probably my all time favorite. I saw it in the there shortly after it came out, fell in love with it and through the years have watched it more times then I can remember.

First off, the plot itself is delightful-man falls in love with a mermaid. Then there's the combination of Hanks and Hanna on screen. They happen to be utterly and completely adorable on screen and one of my all time favorite pairings.

The movie itself is an enthralling fairytale. Daryl shines as the ethereal Madison and her scenes with Hanks are as sweet as cotton candy. The characters are all unforgettable and the underwater scenes will put you into a trance, their gloriously stunning. The movie combines romance, wit and charm with an enchanting story and captivating visuals and characters. It's the kind of movie that one knows as their watching it, will someday be a classic.

Splash never gets tiresome no matter how much you see it. The movie is a classic and, though, some people maybe skeptical of a 10 of 10 rating I think it deserves nothing less. If anyone reading this has NOT seen it-your missing one of the best and sweetest romantic comedies ever made.

A cute romantic fantasy

[lisafordeay · 7/10 · 28 December 2013]

Splash is a Touchstone Pictures romantic fantasy comedy about a young man named Alan(played by Tom Hanks)who hasn't any luck with women. As a kid he was saved by a mermaid and falls in love with her but when his father rescues him from the water the two are apart. Years later and Alan is now a grown man working in a fish warehouse and was about to get married but his former girlfriend left him. So he decides that the best place that he finds happy to refresh his mind is Cape Cod. He of course meets a scientist played by Eugene Levy and he goes on a boat that stops working. But when he ends up trying to fix it himself he falls into the water and gets knocked out cold. Suddenly a young beautiful woman(played by Daryl Hannah) saves him and his on dry land. When he wakes up he sees the woman who is fully nude and she goes back into the water.When the young woman does go into the water again she finds Alan's wallet and goes back to the dry land to track him down,eventually she does and the two fall madly in love and she goes by Madison. But she is hiding a secret from him;could she be the mermaid that he fell for as a kid??

So what do I like about this movie well for starters the acting is pretty good,the effects are great I love how you see the fins looking so life like. The Chemistry between Hanks and Hannah is really cute and adorable. Yes think of this movie as The Little Mermaid(which was this in adult form, and that 2006 film with Sara Paxton Aquamarine minus the twist of course) and you get this enjoyable flick. I finally recorded this on VHS as it was on this Xmas season and I will definitely watch it again soon.

Overall its a thumbs up if you love romantic fantasies and Tom Hanks in general along with mermaids.

John Candy as Freddie is hilarious in this movie RIP John Candy.

A Fishy Tale

[screenman · 3/10 · 24 September 2008]

Well, here's another outing for the tissue-tribe. One of the many utterly talentless casting-couch queens of the 1980's, Daryl Hannah, plays her predictable screen persona as the vulnerable naiveté in a hu-man's world (check-out 'Crazy People'). This movie doesn't contain clichés; it is a cliché.

Strangely popular one-dimensional Tom Hanks plays it straight against various odd-ball individuals including his huckster brother, acted by the continuously upstaging John Candy, with a little pythonesque humour supplied by a female employee who has had a bump on the head and is now in the habit of wearing her clothes out of synch. Then later, he's up against a marine-biologist with a fascist turn, attempting to expose Ms Hannah's fishy secret, of which he - Hanks - is as yet unaware (she's a mermaid, you see).

It would appear that on dry land, her fishy lower-half turns into a human and most excellent pair of pins with the sundry anatomy between -so long as they stay dry. But that if they don't get a regular soaking, they'll remain as legs forever, and she will be forced to stay on land. Or something like that.

Candy can be hilarious in the right scenario - check-out 'Planes,Trains & Automobiles'. Hanks? I can only conclude that he spent some time on a very influential casting-couch as well.

Darly Hannah has the face and figure to have most unemancipated males -or most males, in other words - embarrassed by the scale of their spontaneous erections. She is definitely the stuff of an evolutionary 'trophy' wife. And we get to see a great deal of her meat in this movie.

Then, of course, she gets to do most anything she likes, whether it be wandering about stark naked, going on a buying spree at another's expense, or destroying a shop full of TV sets. She gets to do this because she's 'pretty' and 'vulnerable' and 'naive'. Yawn.

Some people see it as a 'romance'. But I offer this bi-line: Ms Hannah's character - or Madison, as she calls herself - is a mermaid, and therefor not only a different species but also a supposedly dangerous one of ancient folklore. And we learn that she has been stalking Hanks's character like some paedophilic pariah ever since he was a child. Naturally, she has waited until he is adult before taking her pursuit onto dry land, but the implication is self-evident. She uses sex to ensnare him (and a great deal of it, as the dialogue makes clear) in order to subvert him to her way of life. It's a life of immortality but from which he can never, ever escape (though he doesn't yet know it whilst he's submitting to her therapy).

Am I the only one who can see the parallels with 'Dracula' in that resume? I put this to any viewer: would the scenario be quite so 'romantic' if the seducer were male? Because then the parallel with 'Dracula' would be complete.

Only at the last moment, on the dockside, when she has won him over and he has cravenly agreed to join her in her oceanic world, does she spring on him the deadly caveat that there will be no going back; when he joins her, it is for ever.

I suspect that if the gender-tables were turned, any male would be regarded as the most consummate manipulator and fraud under the same circumstances.

However; if paedophilia, bestiality, and betrayal are your idea of the ingredients for a good romance, then keep taking the tissues.