Kevin Coughlin
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FULL WATCHALONG ~ SPLASH
🕑 Added 2025-08-31 05:26:59 +0000 UTCSplash (1984) is one of those movies that perfectly embodies the charm of ‘80s romantic comedies—equal parts sweet, goofy, and just weird enough to stick in your brain for decades. Directed by Ron Howard, it’s the film that asked the question: “What if Tom Hanks fell in love with a mermaid in New York City?” and then leaned all the way in.
Tom Hanks plays Allen, a lovably neurotic guy who thinks he’s unlucky in love until he meets Madison (played by Daryl Hannah), a mysterious blonde who just happens to be… well, half fish. Their romance is absurdly earnest, made funnier by the fact that Madison can’t exactly blend in—she wanders around Manhattan naked, learns English from watching TV, and has to hide her tail from scientists hellbent on turning her into a lab project.
The cast is stacked: John Candy brings his signature sleazy charm as Allen’s brother, delivering one-liners that steal whole scenes, and Eugene Levy plays the obsessive scientist trying (and failing) to expose Madison. Between Candy’s comedic chaos and Levy’s bumbling attempts to prove mermaids are real, the movie balances romance with slapstick in a way only the ‘80s could.
What makes Splash work isn’t just the fantasy—it’s the sincerity. Hanks and Hannah actually sell the love story, giving heart to a premise that could’ve been pure cheese. It’s whimsical, funny, and surprisingly moving, the kind of movie that cemented Hanks as a rising star and made Daryl Hannah an icon.
Is it silly? Absolutely. But it’s also a perfect slice of ‘80s magic—a fairy tale set in New York, with Tom Hanks awkwardly flailing his way into true love.
Comments
ScientificallyStupidJess
I haven't seen this movie in DECADES but it definitely had some sort of influence on me in my formative years (I was seven when it came out), because I truly thought that if I learned to swim like a mermaid well enough, my legs would somehow fuse and I'd really turn into one. That's how that happens, right? I can't believe how much this holds up (for me, at least) after all this time. The mermaid effect is really incredible. Nowadays they'd just green screen it up and somehow it wouldn't be as realistic yet magical. The artistry that went into the fin (including the fin getting kinda gross, as Tara noted, when Madison was super stressed and getting sick from being in captivity), the work Daryl Hannah must have put in to make it look natural on film, the crew that kept her safe and breathing through it all...I hope they never remake this film. There is no way they could make Freddie as charming as John Candy does here. I forgot how much of a sex pest he was, and his explanation of how he learned Swedish phonetically is plausible to me- I can't be the only 80's kid who can sing "Anything Goes" in Mandarin simply because I watched Temple of Doom every day after school! Tell your dog I would die for him- I, too, know the love of a spicy little pooch. If she makes it to 13 I'm throwing her a bat mitzvah.
