Everyone has to start somewhere, and that includes the actor known as Adam Sandler. If you don't know him, he's a little infamous for being in a large number of negatively-received movies, such as "Jack and Jill" and "Grown Ups". Since my own mother actually happens to be a fan of his work, I've gained some degree of familiarity with him as an actor; granted, the latest Adam Sandler movie I've watched is "Hubie Halloween", although I have been wanting to give "Leo" a try. One day, I got curious about how his whole film career got started, and one look at his filmography on Wikipedia later, I found out that it was this 1989 dumpster fire, "Going Overboard", which was an Adam Sandler movie my mother never showed me. After putting it off for a while, I finally got around to watching it, and....well, it's certainly indicative of what kinds of movies he would be starring in going forward.
In Going Overboard, Adam Sandler plays Schecky Moskowitz, a cruise ship waiter and aspiring comedian who hasn't had much luck with getting anyone to laugh. He wants to be his ship's resident comedian, but the ship's actual comedian, Dickie Diamond, won't even let him be an opening act for him. One day, when Dickie's hat is found in the ocean, he is believed to have fallen overboard and drowned (although he's actually just trapped in the bathroom), giving Schecky a chance to prove himself as a comedian. Thus, he'll have to use the power of laughter to win the audience over and also to deal with some terrorists who come aboard the ship to assassinate a woman known as "Miss Australia", who had insulted General Noriega of Panama.
First of all, I think that the fact that Adam Sandler's first movie role is that of a comedian is quite interesting, given how his career ultimately started because of him doing stand-up comedy. If you're going to do acting, start by acting in a part you'd know how to do, you know? That being said, despite comedy being the focal point of the movie, hardly any of the jokes are funny. There was one scene in the first act of the movie that made me somewhat chuckle, but that was it; not a single joke the movie tells made me laugh out loud, whether it came from Adam Sandler's character or any other comedian character, including Dickie Diamond himself. Seriously, how does anyone find Dickie Diamond's jokes funny? Granted, comedy is subjective, so maybe the jokes just aren't catered to my own sense of humor; however, the numerous low ratings this movie has gotten tells me that it doesn't cater to most people's senses of humor.
You know what elements I don't like that aren't related to my sense of humor, though? The story and characters. The movie meanders around for pretty much the entire first act, focusing on unfunny jokes and large amounts of fanservice, with the plot not kicking off until about 40 minutes into the movie. Even when the plot does kick off, it doesn't come together very well and has some things in it that don't make sense, such as the three random appearances of King Neptune.
God, I wish it was either of these King Neptunes, because the King Neptune we get instead is way too forgettable. Sure, he gives Adam Sandler the push he needs to try out being the ship's comedian, but there is another character who I thought could do it....although in hindsight, with later (also pointless) revelations about that character, I guess it would have made his motivations inconsistent. Speaking of the characters and their forgettable-ness, the most memorable part of Adam Sandler's character, Schecky Moskowitz, is his name; otherwise, he's just a bland protagonist. I couldn't stand Croaker, a supporting character who is the vocalist of a band; he's sleazy, gross, and completely pointless to the overarching "story". I also got quite annoyed with Ellen, a.k.a. the aforementioned "Miss Australia", especially during the movie's final act; she complains about how people don't think she's smart just because she's pretty and other things related to her appearance, but she sure as heck doesn't display any traits that prove that she's more than just a pretty face! To wrap up the character discussion, I just want to mention that General Noriega is based on Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who served as military officer in Panama from 1983 to 1989. Was Burt Young's depiction of him accurate? I don't know; I'm too young to have known what he was like back then, although I do hope that the people of Panama are doing better under their current president!
Moving away from political talk and getting back to the actual movie, I wanted to mention that the characters have some understanding that they're in a movie, with some scenes depicting it being watched by General Noriega himself. There are multiple scenes where Adam Sandler's character addresses the audience, and other characters even acknowledge that there is a camera filming them at some points. During some of Adam Sandler's fourth wall-breaking moments, he'll ask a question, and some random women who I think are beauty pageant winners or something will randomly pop up and answer them as if they're being interviewed for a reality show. One moment kind of like this does get one aspect of the plot started, but otherwise, all of the fourth wall breaking and interview-like scenes just feel pointless and boring. Not particularly well-acted, either.
Finally, I wanted to address some of the choices made for songs played throughout the film. I forget the name of it, but there was one song played during the first act that I thought was a decent choice for the scene it was played for, both instrumental-wise and lyric-wise; unfortunately, I can't say the same for the rest of the music choices made throughout the film. They're all very '80's songs, which makes songs, given its 1989 release; I have absolutely no problem with that. The problem with each song is that they're either fitting each scene instrumental-wise but not lyric-wise or that they're just plain awful. One example is Sophia George's "Girlie Girlie", which is played at the beginning of the movie; the instrumentals fit very well with the cruise ship setting, but the lyrics make absolutely no sense. I'm sorry to anyone who likes this song, but I absolutely hate it, and the fact that it's been slapped onto an abysmal movie doesn't help.
That word describes my overall opinion on Going Overboard pretty well; it's abysmal, and I did not have any enjoyment watching it. I would only recommend it to anyone looking to watch Adam Sandler's entire filmography (and I really do mean his entire filmography); otherwise, stay the heck away from it. I'm not sure if my mom has actually seen this movie, but if she has, I'm so glad she kept me away from it. Too bad I had to go look it up on my own, though....
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