The Tale of a Mermaid and a fruit wholesaler

SPLASH (1984)

An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

Ron Howard's "Splash" is a festive, funny, joyful kind of romantic comedy. It puts you in a silly frame of mind, evoking pleasure through its likable characters and original concept. How often do you see a movie where a guy unknowingly falls in love with a mermaid? (1946's "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" perhaps, though a whole different kind of picture). In 1984, it was certainly an original and fresh take on the usual romantic couplings. Since then, we have had a TV movie sequel (unseen by me), M. Night Shyamalan's eccentric and overlong drama/comedy/thriller/something called "Lady in the Water" which starred Bryce Dallas Howard (ironically, Ron Howard's daughter) and a Hong-Kong inspired tale from 1994 called "Mermaid Got Married." But "Splash" rises above most because it's got Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah as the lovebirds, it's got New York City as its setting, and the lovable eccentricities of John Candy as Hank's brother.

Hanks is Allen Bauer, a co-owner of a a fruit and vegetable wholesale business who finds himself in Cape Cod on a whim. Once there, he gets knocked out by a motorboat and is rescued by a blonde mermaid (Daryl Hannah). Allen wants to get to know her but she is mute. Finally, she finds him at his address thanks to Allen's missing wallet. In a nod to immigrants that came to Ellis Island and perhaps saw their first welcoming landmark, the Statue of Liberty, our mermaid of the wandering seas is at the famous monument completely in the buff. Allen and the mermaid finally reunite, and she calls herself Madison after seeing a Madison Avenue sign. Madison quickly learns English by way of repetitive TV watching and is adept at using Allen's credit cards at Bloomingdales! But when Allen learns that Madison is only in NYC for a short time and that she refuses to give up her big secret, things get a little heated and complicated.

What is a little amazing about "Splash" is how winsome and innocent it is, and how the Allen character is permitted to act a little upset at the unknown dilemma centering on Madison amid all the innocence. Hanks doesn't shy away from losing a little control (there is something a little fierce about how he breaks down the bathroom door when Madison doesn't answer). Yet the movie also features one of the sweetest gifts ever given to anyone that you just started dating - a mermaid fountain that somehow finds its way into Allen's swanky apartment. How it gets in there is not as important as the gift itself and how it was obtained, which is best discovered by first-time viewers. A marriage proposal by Allen is first turned down, then accepted. Allen just deeply loves this mysterious woman, unencumbered by her origins or her secrets - he just wants to know her. If that is not true love, I do not know what it is.

"Splash" also has some comedic bits, more or less on the slapstick side. Hanks can be funny (check out his fumbling about in a taxicab) but it is John Candy as Freddie Bauer who shows warmth and an easygoing attitude - he is a party boy but not an excessive party boy (this is a Disney flick after all). Freddie loves his brother whom he feels should loosen up and pick up more women at bars. Candy is allowed some tomfoolery when playing racquetball and hitting himself on the head, or dropping change on the floor so he can look up women's skirts. This is easily one of Candy's best roles ever, far eclipsing almost anything else in his career. Watch his role in this movie, and then see him as a leading man in the underrated "Only the Lonely" and you will see a dramatic actor of sublime restraint who was often shortchanged ("Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck" excepted).

Another actor who brings a barrel of laughs is Eugene Levy as scientist Walter Kornbluth, who is absolutely certain that a mermaid is walking around New York City. He gets into a few accidents when he can't catch up with Madison and inadvertently sprays a water hose on the wrong women! The idea is that the water hose will change Madison's legs into fins, thus proving his theory.

"Splash" is an intoxicating romantic treat, blending belly laughs and a romance between two leads of blissful chemistry with ease. This might easily be one of Ron Howard's finest films, showing that there are true cinematic pros who can make this kind of upbeat movie just right. I have seen my share of romantic comedies, perhaps one too many post-"Splash" that do not even have a tenth of what makes "Splash" work or any of the classics from way back in the day. The lovely last shot alone possesses a lyricism that defines what true love is. You may shed a tear.