SplashFinding true love means stepping outside of your comfort zone--like a fish out of water. Splash is the story of Madison (Daryl Hannah), a mermaid who journeys from the seas just off of the coast of Cape Cod to New York City to reunite with Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks), a workaholic lonely heart whom she saves from drowning (more than once). Allen is unaware of Madison's amphibious secret, and the two young lovers enjoy their blissful days together, until an overzealous scientist named Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) makes it his scientific mission to reveal Madison's identity to the whole world.
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Directed by Ron Howard, Splash is unabashedly a romantic comedy with a dash of fantasy. Allen is borderline depressed up until he is reunited with Madison, especially compared to his gregarious (if perverted) brother, Freddie (John Candy). Even twenty years earlier--told through a sepia-toned flashback of when Allen was a child--he seems down in the dumps, and leaps off of the edge of the boat. It's highly unlikely that an eight-year old would be suicidal, but Allen seems to be searching for some deeper meaning in his life--evident in his adult years, even if it has been buried after years of disappointment. Allen shares this poignant memory with Madison as they are walking along the waterfront, while he admires a fountain depicting a mermaid, doomed to be destroyed. He has put up a wall around his heart, implied to be the reason that his prior girlfriend left him--he is pathologically adverse to saying "I love you". Allen's fear that he will never find true love and just "grow old and die" is what compels him to revisit the place where he first met Madison in his youth, even if he is unsure whether it was a dream or not. Plunking down a wad of cash for a cab driver to haul him up the coast sounds crazy, but speaks to his desperation to find some purpose between his chaotic (and meaningless) work life and his stillborn love life.
The magic of Allen and Madison's love--aside from her mythical powers--is evident when they see each other for the first time in twenty years. There is a spark between them which flares into full-blown passion after Allen is called by the police to collect Madison after her provocative debut at the Statue of Liberty. Because Allen lacks experience in a meaningful relationship, he struggles to balance his life with his new, perfect lover; he sits her in front of a television while he goes to work, helping her gain a working knowledge of English. (She calls herself "Madison" after Scott reads a street sign aloud, replacing her unpronounceable mermaid name with it.) The secret she keeps from Allen develops into a conflict which threatens to tear them apart and ruin everything they have. Allen already struggles with trust, hence his difficulty in opening up and declaring his love; that Madison conceals her true nature by necessity only exacerbates his feelings of unease, leading to a breakdown on the ice skating rink one night. Splash explores the challenges that come with discovering boundaries in a relationship and exposing one's fears and anxieties to a partner at the risk of losing that magical romance--like sand slipping through your fingers.
Few moments in Splash are spent in Cape Cod, although they include when Allen first crosses paths with the high-strung Walter, who believes that his colleagues are spying on him to steal his research. Walter is half right about this, and later has a crisis of conscience after delivering Madison into the hands of an unscrupulous scientist named Dr. Ross (Richard B. Shull), who is more interested in dissecting Madison than studying her. There is a scene where Madison swims through a sunken cottage off of the coast of Massachusetts, containing waterproof nautical charts that help her find where Allen lives, along with his discarded wallet. The rest of Splash is set in New York City, and depicts a spectrum of life in the "Big Apple". Allen and Freddie have inherited their father's produce distribution business, operating in a fast-paced environment with lots of wheeling and dealing. Allen must be doing rather well for himself if he's able to afford a spacious apartment in the city and buy gifts from Tiffany's for Madison on the fly. When Madison sees an advertisement for Bloomingdale's on television, the doorman at Allen's apartment hails a cab for her, leading her on a shopping spree in the prestigious department store. When Allen and Madison walk through the city at night, street musicians and blind men selling pencils from ceramic mugs really sell the setting, making Madison's experience in the bustling city all the more engrossing as she navigates this brave new world in search of true love.
Recommended for: Fans of a charming story of lovers literally from two different worlds, and the physiological hurdles and trust issues they must overcome for their love to flourish. Splash capitalizes on the comedic talents of the cast for some truly funny scenes; but the romance between Allen and Madison never feels like an afterthought, and is the real star of the show.
The magic of Allen and Madison's love--aside from her mythical powers--is evident when they see each other for the first time in twenty years. There is a spark between them which flares into full-blown passion after Allen is called by the police to collect Madison after her provocative debut at the Statue of Liberty. Because Allen lacks experience in a meaningful relationship, he struggles to balance his life with his new, perfect lover; he sits her in front of a television while he goes to work, helping her gain a working knowledge of English. (She calls herself "Madison" after Scott reads a street sign aloud, replacing her unpronounceable mermaid name with it.) The secret she keeps from Allen develops into a conflict which threatens to tear them apart and ruin everything they have. Allen already struggles with trust, hence his difficulty in opening up and declaring his love; that Madison conceals her true nature by necessity only exacerbates his feelings of unease, leading to a breakdown on the ice skating rink one night. Splash explores the challenges that come with discovering boundaries in a relationship and exposing one's fears and anxieties to a partner at the risk of losing that magical romance--like sand slipping through your fingers.
Few moments in Splash are spent in Cape Cod, although they include when Allen first crosses paths with the high-strung Walter, who believes that his colleagues are spying on him to steal his research. Walter is half right about this, and later has a crisis of conscience after delivering Madison into the hands of an unscrupulous scientist named Dr. Ross (Richard B. Shull), who is more interested in dissecting Madison than studying her. There is a scene where Madison swims through a sunken cottage off of the coast of Massachusetts, containing waterproof nautical charts that help her find where Allen lives, along with his discarded wallet. The rest of Splash is set in New York City, and depicts a spectrum of life in the "Big Apple". Allen and Freddie have inherited their father's produce distribution business, operating in a fast-paced environment with lots of wheeling and dealing. Allen must be doing rather well for himself if he's able to afford a spacious apartment in the city and buy gifts from Tiffany's for Madison on the fly. When Madison sees an advertisement for Bloomingdale's on television, the doorman at Allen's apartment hails a cab for her, leading her on a shopping spree in the prestigious department store. When Allen and Madison walk through the city at night, street musicians and blind men selling pencils from ceramic mugs really sell the setting, making Madison's experience in the bustling city all the more engrossing as she navigates this brave new world in search of true love.
Recommended for: Fans of a charming story of lovers literally from two different worlds, and the physiological hurdles and trust issues they must overcome for their love to flourish. Splash capitalizes on the comedic talents of the cast for some truly funny scenes; but the romance between Allen and Madison never feels like an afterthought, and is the real star of the show.