The wide-audience crowd-pleaser “Splash” (1984) plays today like a homework assignment for a viewer going through the catalogs of director Ron Howard (his first hit) and stars Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy and Eugene Levy (the film that made them household names).
For a movie that’s more of a lark than a sturdy premise, though, it’s a decidedly watchable one. Hanks’ fruit seller Allen and Hannah’s mermaid Madison have an insta-cute backstory amid the opening credits. When Allen was a kid, he jumped off a ferry near Cape Cod and saw the mermaid, likewise a child.
As years go by, Allen thinks it must’ve been one of those foggy childhood dreams, but as he wonders why he can’t seem to love his nearly perfect off-screen girlfriend (who breaks up with him and moves out), we know the answer: Subconsciously, he can’t get past the mermaid girl. Aww.
“Splash” (1984)
Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Bruce Jay Friedman, Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel (screenplay); Brian Grazer (story)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy
Though “Splash” never does anything quite as well as later movies would do, perhaps it was influential. In terms of adorable fish out of water, it’s a simpler precursor to Natasha Henstridge’s Sil in “Species” and Milla Jovovich’s Leeloo in “The Fifth Element.” Madison is a pure male fantasy: an innocent, beautiful woman who emerges from seemingly nowhere for the sole purpose of loving him. Indeed, the first thing she does when Allen recovers on the beach is kiss him.
Making a name for itself (and many girls yet to be born)
Unquestionably influential is the name Madison. The mermaid names herself upon seeing the New York City street sign, a funny joke in 1984 as the writers purposely chose a street that doesn’t at all sound like a name. However, as people watched “Splash” at home through the years, it landed less like a joke and more like a real girls’ name. Not charting at all in 1984, it reached No. 628 among American girl baby names in 1985. It cracked the top 100 in 1993 and peaked at No. 2 in 2001 and ’02.
That’s a cool story, and “Splash” itself starts off pretty cool as we follow Allen’s chaotic life, knowing that the mermaid is going to make him happy. It’s fun watching Allen’s roustabout brother and business partner (Candy) contrast with the responsible Allen.
Then the movie slows down. When Candy disappears for long stretches, the four writers try to inject comedy with a subplot of scientist Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) trying to track down Madison and pour water on her to prove he’s not insane – she truly is a mermaid. (“The Shape of Water” would deepen this side plot of scientists probing a peaceful seabound humanoid.) The gags of Kornbluth accidentally dousing innocent (and furious) bystanders is amusing, but not enough to overcome the fact that we desire everyone – particularly Allen – to finally learn she’s a mermaid.
Madison’s fish-out-of-water activities are one-note, but admittedly pretty easy to watch, especially when she comes from the water to Ellis Island naked and oblivious to why that’s a big deal. People magazine didn’t do a Most Beautiful People issue till 1990, but Hannah – the particularly crazy-beautiful replicant in 1982’s “Blade Runner” — would’ve been the cover girl in the mid-’80s.
From the start, we know “Splash” is a rather unhealthy male fantasy centered on Allen, and it remains that way throughout. This is a harmless movie for those who can accept movies as fantasy, but by the same token, it would be dishonest to call it deep.