Splash

Plot synopsis:
While on a boat at Cape Cod in 1964 with his family, Allen Bauer sees something in the water and dives in, much to the alarm of his family. Unknown to them, Allen has actually seen a little mermaid. However, no one else sees her as Allen is plucked from the water and returned to his parents, much to the sadness of the mermaid as she watches the boat leave.20 years later, Allen (Tom Hanks) now runs his family's produce distribution business, as well as continues his boyish search to find true love. Along with his feelings, Allen must also contend with his lecherous but still caring brother Freddie (John Candy), who takes love a bit less seriously than his brother. Allen lives with his girlfriend but she breaks up with him over the phone, leaving Allen depressed and despondent.After attending the wedding of a work associate (Bobby Di Cicco), Allen gets drunk and for some reason, decides to go to Cape Cod while his brother runs off to Rio de Janeiro with two attractive single women. Arriving at the Cape, Allen comes across a short-tempered scientist named Cornbluth (Eugene Levy), who is there to search for mermaids in the waters off the town (unknown to his two bumbling crewmembers, or Allen).Allen charters a small motorboat to get to a nearby island, but a mishap sends him over the side. After almost drowning, Allen finds himself on land with a beautiful naked blonde woman (Daryl Hannah), who quickly disappears back into the water (once in the water, her legs become fins, unseen to Allen). Allen pleads to know who she is, but she does not respond.In the water, the mermaid finds Allen's wallet, and swims away, but not before having a chance encounter with Cornbluth. After swimming away, she goes to a sunken ship, and using the information in his wallet and some old maps in the sunken ship, finds out where Allen lives.A couple days later, Allen returns to New York, and on the same day, the mermaid shows up naked at the Statue of Liberty, with Allen's wallet. Allen receives a call from the NYPD, and heads to the station where the girl is being held. After she is released into his custody, Allen takes her to his apartment.The next day, Allen shows up for work happier than usual, much to the shock of Freddie, to whom Allen decides to give more of the responsibility of the family business. Upon returning home later in the day, Allen is shocked to find the woman is missing. The doorman claims she got in a cab going to Bloomingdale's, and Allen heads there immediately. He finds her there with a whole new wardrobe, and also finds that she is now able to talk. When Allen asks how, she explains that it was by watching television in the store's electronics department. As they walk home, Allen tries to ask her where she's from, but she is scant on details, only to say that she can only stay for 6 days, before the moon is full. When asking her for a name, the concept seems foreign to the woman. As he notes that they are approaching "Madison Ave," the woman decides she likes this name, and so Allen decides to call her Madison.Allen then spends the next couple days away from work getting to know Madison. One evening, he hears her in the bathroom with the door locked, and the water running. When he asks to be let in, she panics and demands that he wait. Allen instead grows worried when he hears a strange thump on the floor (Madison's legs had transformed in the water and she'd flopped out of the tub), and knocks in the door, finding Madison wrapped in a towel on the floor, claiming she didn't want to let him in because she was "shy."The next evening, Allen gets Madison a gift, and takes her out for a walk. When the come across a fountain with a mermaid on it, Allen recounts how it reminds him of something, but can't recall just what. Allen also notes that they are planning to remove the fountain and build condo's in the area, which Madison finds sad, thinking the fountain is beautiful.Freddie then informs Allen that he has managed to get tickets to an dinner event that the President of the United States will attend. Allen is impressed, but asks if he can take Madison instead of Freddie along. Freddie playfully teases his brother that he's in love, but Allen insists he's not. Allen goes on to explain that he just isn't sure, and that something just seems strange when it comes to Madison, noting the incident with the TV's as well as the bathroom.Meanwhile, Madison's appearance at the Statue of Liberty has made it into a local tabloid. Cornbluth sees the story, and informs his colleagues in New York. However, one of his colleagues named Dr Ross finds Cornbluth's mermaid theory to be ridiculous. Cornbluth is sure that when she is not in the water, the mermaid's fins become legs on dry land. He then sets out across New York attempting to find Madison and throw water on her. In his attempts, Cornbluth ends up offending the same couple twice and is beaten up.As the days tick away before Madison leaves, Allen attempts to ask her to marry him. However, she refuses Allen's offer, and he grows irritated at her, regarding how secretive she has been about where she comes from. Madison then runs away, and Allen attempts to find her, before returning to the produce center. Shortly after arriving, Madison returns, and this time decides to accept Allen's proposal.Allen is eager to get married now, but decides to do so after the event with the President, planning to drive to Maryland to wed. During the dinner, Madison decides she'll tell Allen her big secret and he agrees to leave with her so they'll have privacy. However, as the two of them are leaving the event, Cornbluth sees Madison, and ends up spraying her with water, revealing her secret to Allen, and to a contingency of press.Both Allen and Madison are taken to a secret location in the New York Natural History Museum, where Allen is also suspected of being part-fish. Allen and Madison are kept in isolation, but Madison is soon put into Allen's tank. She attempts to apologize for not revealing her secret, but Allen silently refuses to listen to her.After it appears he is not of Madison's species, Allen is released, only to be mobbed by press outside his apartment. Freddie manages to get Allen out of there, and they return to the office at the family business. Allen is still upset that in his search for love, the one girl he fell madly in love with has turned out to be a fish. Freddie chastises Allen for his attitude, claiming that in the last few days, his brother has been happier than he's been in years and certainly happier than (Freddie) has ever been with a woman.Cornbluth meanwhile, has been allowed to view Madison, but has not been allowed to voice opinions regarding her care and well-being. The scientist in charge of project, Dr Ross, explains his plan to see how Madison reacts to other marine life before his people dissect her. Cornbluth voices his dissension, but Ross just chides him along.Now feeling miserable for what he has done, Cornbluth is surprised when he is found by Allen at the dentist. Allen has decided that he loves and wants to save Madison, and needs Cornbluth's help.Along with Freddie, the three of them infiltrate the lab, and make off with Madison, leaving Freddie behind to distract them for a bit. Cornbluth and the two brothers impersonate Swedish biologists and are able to bluff their way past the half-Swedish guard when Freddie speaks his language having learned it from watching watching Swedish pornography.Madison's escape is soon found out, and the military begins a chase through the Manhattan streets. Cornbluth at one point jumps out in an attempt to buy some time, but ends up almost being run over.Finally, off a pier on the Hudson River, Madison and Allen say their farewells, with Madison explaining to Allen that he can come with her, but if he does, he cannot come back to land. It is also here that she finally reveals that she was the little girl he saw in the waters off Cape Cod, and Allen is overjoyed to know that it was all real.As the military at first closes in, Allen has Madison swim off, but as he watches her leave, he dives in after her, though he is unable to swim. Just as when he was a boy, Madison rescues Allen, but soon, the two have to contend with divers trying to stop the two of them.After a small skirmish, Madison grabs Allen's hand, and they swim away. Thanks to a kiss by her, Allen is now able to breathe underwater, and after some time swimming, they make their way to a distant underwater kingdom.

Tags: romantic, entertaining, flashback

Review:
Tom Hanks is charismatic and likable enough and was perfectly cast as Allan Bauer, a successful businessman who falls in love with a beautiful mermaid named Maddison.
SPLASH (1984) **** Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Shecky Greene.
Excellent fantasy comedy directed by Ron Howard about produce salesman Hanks who, unbeknownst to him, falls in love with a mermaid (innocently played nicely by Hannah) in Manhattan and asking the immortal question: Is love blind?
Great acting from Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah and a story line that can be taken funny as well as seriously.
Clever man meets mermaid comedy with Hanks fitting the bill as a lonely New York bachelor who falls in love with winsome mermaid Hannah.
Over-achieving little film that was directed by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks as a young man who finds the woman of his dreams (Daryl Hannah).
Splash is a really well-made Hollywood fantasy comedy, with early Tom Hanks already developing into the charismatic everyman and Darryl Hannah and John Candy at their best.
But under the comedy and sweetness I have always thought there was a disturbing undertone of extreme pessimism--just what kind of ugly and cruel society do we live in, in which the mermaid Madison's only prospect is that she will be tortured, from which Hanks' character ultimately has to flee, never to see his beloved brother again?
Not that we are dating mermaids, but it is a movie that has Alan (Tom Hanks) in a very real situation of been in love with someone who he is trying to figure out who she is but she wont give the answers or really open up.
The boy never forgets about what happened that day, although everyone insists he was hallucinating.Years later, now a man (and played by Tom Hanks), another trip to Cape Cod brings dejavu: Hanks falls off of a tour boat and is rescued by an all grown mermaid (played by Daryl Hannah).
A mermaid (Daryl Hannah) falls in love with a man (Tom Hanks).
But that's about it.I found the movie very slow (this does NOT need to go on for 2 hours); Levy was horribly unfunny as the scientist; John Candy (who could be good in the right role) is also unfunny as Hanks' brother; there are plot loopholes you could drive a truck through; I really didn't find it all that funny (I think I laughed 5 times--that's not good for a 2 hour movie); we have the boringly predictable military as the enemy role and there's an ending I just couldn't buy at all.The only scenes that really work are with Hannah and Hanks.
SCTV funny-men Eugene Levy (as Walter) and John Candy (s Freddie) try to choke some laughs out of their roles, but the comedy herein is dead in the water.
Barely.**** Splash (3/9/84) Ron Howard ~ Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy.
Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are legendary names in Hollywood today, and it's impressive how far they've come from a story about a woman emerging naked from the sea to flop into the arms of a 20-something produce distributor.Distilled to its essence, "Splash" is just that – a lonely bachelor's fantasy played out on screen.
It's what writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (who previously collaborated with Howard and Grazer on "Night Shift"), with Bruce Jay Friedman ("Stir Crazy") do to craft this hetero-male daydream into an entertaining fish-out-of- water story (literally?) that gives it real legs (sorry).Although viewers (mostly men) will be drawn to this fantasy pretty quickly, Daryl Hannah also gets to play a goofy, atypical female lead role, which can't be underestimated in the film's success.
Whether it's naked Madison emerging on Liberty Island and not thinking anything of it, the excellent bathtub scene or the deranged Walter Kornbluth's (Eugene Levy) attempts to expose Madison to the world, these create highly memorable and impressionable moments whether you're a kid seeing this movie on TV for the first time or a casual fan of light comedy looking to be entertained.With a little more story and character development (Why is there a coral reef in Cape Cod and why would a mermaid be there on her own?) and the avoidance of deus ex machina, "Splash" could have even gone beyond fantastical comedy and become something a little more meaningful.
And after watching it for the first time recently, the relationship build up of Allen (Tom Hanks) and Madison (Daryl Hannah) seemed a little flimsy in my opinion.
And that's what's so strong about this movie other than the comedic performances of John Candy and Eugene Levy is the chemistry of Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks.
This is one heck of a great family film, wich could be enjoyed by young and old.The youthful energy of Tom Hanks just splashes across the screen in this movie.
We Flow Together Once & Forever Love Came For Me. My brother bought this for me on DVD as a Christmas gift in 2006, every year on Valentine's Day I watch it because I'm a big fan of the romantic comedy genre.Director Ron Howard with the help of writing team Babaloo Mandel & Lowell Ganz created a timeless, funny and enchanting romantic comedy that's so magical it's also classic.
His portrayal of a lonely businessman who falls for a woman with a secret was comical and sweet.Darryl Hannah is lovely and whimsical as the mermaid, she doesn't act like a dumb blonde but rather a curious beauty trying to navigate through a world she's never been in before.
The song Love Came For Me sung by Rita Coolidge during the part where the happy couple swims away together and while the credits rolled was a moving moment.Splash is one of 1984's best films not just for the comedy but also for the romantic fantasy displayed,I'd give it a 6.9/10..
an unusual,quirky,warm,believable,lovable and some what funny love story between a human man and a 'REALLY ATTRACTIVE,ENCHANTING mermaid....one fine summer day,an 8 yr old boy was rescued from drowing,off the coast of cape cod when he was vacationing with his family by a 'strange,fairy-like',girl of his own age,who seemed to appear mysteriously from nowhere.20 years later, as fate would have it,he again drowns in an ocean one day and the same girl,(now both grown up),comes to his rescue.later on,she eventually comes to search for him out of the water,finds him,then eventually comes to live with him and they fell madly in love with each other.but she has a terribly guarded secret.just what could it be that she's guarding so painstakingly??!!!.confusion and chaos happens when the man she loves and the world finds out about her 'odd secret'...a must watch especially for lovers of warm,soft and yet a different type of romantic movies!!!....definitely!!!..
Since then I've always tried to catch it every time its been on TV over the past few years, and unsurprisingly it is quite often thanks to it being a wonderfully moving, feel good film that features superb performances from a talented cast along with a terrific script and Ron Howard's splendid Direction.
So I ended up seeing it for the first time in over a year today and it was just as refreshing and joyful as it was for me before.Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah are brilliant in the leads and have a lovely chemistry together that really makes the film work so well and must be one of the best if not THE best chemistry i've ever seen in a romantic comedy.
However, another large factor that makes it work is the comedic elements that are played to perfection by John Candy and Eugene Levy, although Hanks and Hannah get several as well.
"Splash" is the story of a love between a new york Bachelor and a mermaid he meets in Cape Cod. She saves him from drowning and eventually meets up with him in the big apple.
Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy and John Candy give fantastic performances and the New York images are just breathtaking:)Katrina.
It always seems so fresh to me.It is a light romantic comedy, with a young Tom Hanks, lonely, going through life with mismatched relationships, until by chance he meets a mermaid.........and then the film progresses from there.The acting by the leading characters seems so natural; they are not trying too hard to be slapstick funny, but through the great dialog, direction and timing, they make it a thoroughly enjoyable film to watch.
Splash is one of those romantic comedies that leaves viewers entertained and enchanted at the story about the love between a man and his mermaid girlfriend.
The chemistry between Tom Hanks & the gorgeous Daryl Hannah was charming and sweet, they made a cute couple in this adorable movie.When Allen Bauer was eight years old he had an accident while on vacation with his family, he fell off a ship into the water and was rescued by a mermaid (MacKarvich).
20 years later Allen, (Hanks) is grown up and running his father's fruit produce business with his older, bachelor fun loving brother Freddie (Candy).One day Allen returns to Cape Cod because of old memories, to this day he still remembers the accident but doesn't know for sure if there was a mermaid.While heading to Cape Cod Allen has another accident and is rescued by the same mermaid, she travels to New York to find the man she saved twice.
Meanwhile scientist Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Levy) is determined to find and show people that this girl is a mermaid, after a few days Allen's fallen in love with her not knowing why she acts so strange or comes from a place with no music, ice or clothes.
I found this movie to be enchanting and very romantic, Eugene Levy's performance as the mad scientist was comical and funny, John Candy's laughable and his role as Allen's brother was hilarious..
Tom Hanks and John Candy are simply brilliant and never looked back, while Daryl Hannah is cute, sexy and believable as the mermaid.
Alan Bauer (Tom Hanks) is knocked off his boat, only to be saved by non-speaking mermaid, Madison (played weakly by Daryl Hannah).
They fall in love and she moves to New York to live with him.However, this mermaid/man relationship has its drawbacks as Madison struggles to find living on land easy, and her vocabulary is limited, at best.Adding to the chaos and drama,    (played by Eugene Levy, last seen in the 1999 teen flick 'American Pie') is a scientist determined to capture Madison for testing.So with the help of Alan's older brother Freddy (funny-man John Candy), they try and free Madison so that they can live 'happily ever after'.A nice romantic comedy with a great sequel (Amy Yasbeck is a better actress than Daryl Hannah, in my book).
Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah supported by Eugene Levy and John Candy are hilariously divine!!!
He lovingly gives his advice to Tom Hanks' character in a way that only a pervert could love!Eugene Levy, the pesky scientist-turned-mermaid-seeker, is funny and clever in his antics.
He ends up scoring a broken arm, busted tooth, and a damaged reputation.I would have loved to see a "Splash II", but considering that it would all have to be filmed underwater, I don't think anyone would give it a try.Tom has gone on to make it big with such greats as "Saving Private Ryan", "Forest Gump", and "That Thing You Do" but I still consider his "debut" to be "Splash".
Its not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but I cant say I'm disappointed with it either.+John Candy+Music brings charm to the romance+doesnt try to do too much-A bit too silly at times-Predictable-PG rating?6.2/10.
Tom Hanks breaks out in this light, charming, modestly funny fish-out-of-water comedy (har har) about a man's lifelong encounters with a lustily enamored mermaid.
Ron Howard directed this hit comedy that stars Tom Hanks as harried businessman Allen Bauer, who as a young boy almost drowned off Cape Cod, but a young mermaid saved his life, and many years later as adults, when the same thing happens again, the mermaid(played by Daryl Hannah) follows Allen home to New York, where she comes ashore nude, making quite an entrance!
Every man's (and boy's) fantasy is played out when the beautiful Madison (Hannah), who happens to be a mermaid, comes to shore looking for the man she loves, Allen (Hanks).
Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah are both superb in this, and John Candy is absolutely brilliant in a supporting role.
This one of Tom Hanks' earlier movies, where he stars as Allen Bauer who is looking for true love, and finds it in Madison (Daryl Hannah) whom, unbeknown-st to him, is a mermaid.The romance and chemistry between Allen and Madison are pretty heartfelt and touching, with Allen looking to balance his busy work life and finding a companion to Madison adjusting to life in the city.
Her only have seven days to remain in the human world before she returns to the sea serve as a pretty suspenseful backdrop to the story.Not bad acting from Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, with a steady-paced plot that can be both dramatic and funny.
Hanks is a busybody who runs into the mermaid again, except he doesn't recognize her (would you?, and he falls in love with her.My favorite scenes are the Statue of Liberty scene, the department store scene with the TV sets and where she learns English, and where Eugene Levy is spraying the wrong people with water trying to prove that she's a mermaid.This is a must for anybody who loves comedy and a movie with Tom Hanks, Darryl Hannah, and/or John Candy in it.
Here he stars alongside a very attractive Daryl Hannah in a nice little romantic comedy that at one point gets rather risqué for a PG rated movie during a certain emerging at the Statue of Liberty scene.
In the first of Ron Howard's and Tom Hanks' collaborations, Hanks stars as Allen Bauer, an unlucky in love man who travels to Cape Cod, where he meets a beautiful woman, who has a secret, she is a mermaid.In perhaps a forgotten gem of the 80's, Howard delivers a heart warming tale about one man and his unlucky in love life, and how the extraordinary can bring out the hearts desires in a truly good funny and ultimately tale.Hardly his best role, Hanks still delivers in a cliché hero role as Allen, someone all men can relate to.
Before both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks became known for making gooey message movies, they teamed up on this very likable comedy.Hanks plays a man searching for love and finds it in the form of Daryl Hannah.
Eugene Levy is a scientist who wants to capture the mermaid for his own fame, and John Candy is Hanks's loud-mouth brother.Full of memorable scenes, like Hannah scarfing down a lobster, shell and all, at a posh restaurant.
The plot of course has unfulfilled clerk Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks) meeting up with a mermaid (Daryl Hannah) who turns his life upside down.
Tom Hanks meets a mermaid played by Daryl Hannah when they're kids, then meets her again years later in New York when she saves him from drowning.
The highlight of the movie is certainly the chemistry between Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, it is very sweet, at times quite heartwarming, it was certainly a complicated relationship to pull off and they did not seem to have any trouble with it.
The leading actors and actresses do a remarkable job; some being Tom Hanks as the man in love and Daryl Hannah as the beautiful and hilarious mermaid.
John Candy plays Tom Hanks' older brother with Eugene Levy playing a crazy scientist who tries to prove that mermaids exist.
John Candy plays Tom Hanks' older brother with Eugene Levy playing a crazy scientist who tries to prove that mermaids exist.
These two provide some of the film's hilarious comedic moments.The romantic chemistry between Hanks' Allen Bauer and Hannah's Madison are just well done.
These two provide some of the film's hilarious comedic moments.The romantic chemistry between Hanks' Allen Bauer and Hannah's Madison are just well done.
Later, Allen realizes that Madison was the little girl mermaid that rescued him when he was a young boy in the film's opening flashback sequence.Splash was directed by Ron Howard, who is, of course, one of Hollywood's great filmmakers.
Later, Allen realizes that Madison was the little girl mermaid that rescued him when he was a young boy in the film's opening flashback sequence.Splash was directed by Ron Howard, who is, of course, one of Hollywood's great filmmakers.
Splash is a fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Ron Howard, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Dody Goodman.
Splash (1984): Dir: Ron Howard / Cast: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Richard B.
Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy and John Candy star in Ron Howard's 1984 fantasy-comedy.
Ron Howard does keep things very jovial, and this, along with Tom Hanks' infectious turn as the love-lorn mermaid admirer, probably makes the pic the reasonable entertainment that it is.Daryl Hannah is a little wooden in the movie that made her a household name, and John Candy plays Tom's slovenly brother.
Splash is a Touchstone Pictures romantic fantasy comedy about a young man named Alan(played by Tom Hanks)who hasn't any luck with women.
Overall its a thumbs up if you love romantic fantasies and Tom Hanks in general along with mermaids.John Candy as Freddie is hilarious in this movie RIP John Candy..
Good early movie with Tom Hanks, by Ron Howard..
Such is the case with Daryl Hannah in SPLASH.**Spoilers ahead**Daryl's portrayal of MADISON, a mermaid who comes to New York with nothing but a lost wallet she found that belongs to ALAN BAUER (Tom Hanks), is brilliant.
Tom Hanks does a fine job as Allen Bauer and Daryl Hannah is great as Madison; making her unbelievable character believable.
Splash (1984): Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, Eugene Levy,, Shecky Greene, Dody Goodman, Richard B.