Overboard, starring Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez, was destroyed by critics when released May 4 to theaters, receiving major backlash because it was thought to be a bad remake of the original 1987 version starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
Besides details changed to make the film a more modern version of the original, and the roles of the two main characters swapped, the two movies are almost identical to one another. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers said, “Anna Faris and Mexico’s biggest star Eugenio Derbez step into Goldie and Kurt’s shoes – but they can’t keep this gender-reversed reboot from sinking like stone.”
Anybody who has seen the original probably recognized how verbatim a lot of the dialogue in the remake is compared to the original, which makes it feel sort of like an “off brand” remake of the movie. During the film, I often found myself waiting for the more iconic moments from the first film, like Kate being pushed off of the boat toward the start of the movie, causing me to pay less attention to the more modern humor that was added. Sophomore Jessie Grinspoon said, “I did really like it, and it was still really great and funny but I could have just rented the original on On Demand and watched it on my couch.”
Overall, I laughed a lot and enjoyed watching the film, although basically the same, but with new characters. Faris executed her role very well as Kate, the almost broke single mom, trying to get along. Derbez also guaranteed a tremendous amount of humor in the role of Leonardo or “Leo,” who has anesthesia after drunkenly falling overboard and washing ashore. The biggest change from the storyline of the initial film is the side story created about Leonardo’s real family, and how his sister, who is jealous of him gaining ownership of the family company, lies to the others about his death.
I would recommend seeing it, but wait until it comes available for rent on television. It did put a fun and more modern twist on the original story, which could potentially be seen as a classic someday by a younger generation. Although the movie did only receive an astounding 28 percent and an average of 4.3/10, according to Rotten Tomatoes, it was still well put together.  Even Associated Press critic Lindsey Bahr said, “Suffice it to say, you’d be safer to leave this one floating without a life jacket and just renting the ‘87 one again.”