Touchstone. Director Ron Howard; Producer Brian Grazer; Screenplay Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Bruce Jay Friedman; Camera Don Peterman; Editor Daniel P. Hanley, Michael Hill; Music Lee Holdridge; Art Director Jack T. Collis
Tom Hanks
Daryl Hannah
John Candy
Eugene Levy
Dody Goodman
Shecky Greene
Touchstone Films takes the plunge with surprisingly charming mermaid yarn notable for winning suspension of disbelief and fetching by-play between Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks.
Although film is a bit uneven, production benefits from a tasty look, an airy tone, and a delectable, unblemished performance from Hannah who couldn't be better cast if she were Neptune's daughter incarnate. Hanks, as a Gotham bachelor in search of love, makes a fine leap from sitcom land, and John Candy as an older playboy brother is a marvelous foil.
The mermaid's fin materializes into human legs when she leaves the water and, a la Lady Godiva, blonde tresses covering her breasts.
Screenplay is marred by some glaring loopholes in its inner structure but story is a sweet takeoff on the innocence mythology and sensuality associated with mermaids.
1984: Nomination: Best Original Screenplay
(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1984. Running time: 111 MIN.
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