Overboard

"Overboard" is a gem of a movie. It stands far above the vast wasteland of made for TV movies. What makes it so memorable for me, even after 20 years, is that it breaks all of the usual formulas and rules, shedding the obvious action-adventure treatment for something truly different and in my opinion far better, and deeper.

Filmed on location in the South Pacific with excellent photography and production values, director John Newland weaves the tale and the able cast into a rich fabric that will keep you thinking for a long time to come. Though the characters are well developed, they are intentionally ambiguous, inviting personal interpretation.

The director and cast peel back the layers of a troubled couple's relationship: the human emotions; the failings; the ambitions; and the hidden agendas, and strike a very dark, ominous tone. It's moody, broody and nostalgic, but strangely satisfying. It grabs you and pulls you in. Like it or not, you are dragged along as if by a powerful force of nature. You think you know where the sailboat is headed, and perhaps the characters as well. But you don't!

How well do we really know each other? And ourselves?

Newport Beach lawyer, anxious to leave the rat race and chase his lifelong dream of sailing to the South Seas, is encouraged by his wife to purchase a yacht and "be free"; unfortunately, while steering in shifts, she falls overboard some 100 miles northwest of Tahiti (blame it on that pesky cat!). Hank Searls' adapted his novel for television, framing the majority of his story--the couple's rocky marriage--in that old TV device, The Flashback. However, since nothing but internal misery has dogged this bickering couple in the past, and the present offers us little more than Angie Dickinson treading water in a life-jacket, there's nothing to look forward to but their reunion. As an actress, Dickinson must have been attracted to the possibility of fireworks between the spouses--but with monotone Cliff Robertson playing opposite her, the chances for anything dramatically exciting are slim.

I heard about this movie and have been hunting for it for several years. I see it listed on IMDb but have been unable to obtain it. I saw it once on ebay listed by an Australian but was outbid. I would so love to see this movie. We heard about it from a sailing club that was talking about the bad luck of "renaming" a sailboat. It sounds like a great sailing movie not to mention about the difficulties the couple seems to be going through. The renaming thing is just a superstition thing the club had been talking about, but I guess that is part of the mystery in the movie about the boat??? Please, if anyone knows how to buy or rent one, please let me know.

Boopsie has hit my feelings and thoughts about this movie right on the nose. I saw this movie many many years ago and was stunned at the ending. It started as a fairly interesting story-line and I was enjoying that. Angie Dickenson and Cliff Robertson were a good match for these characters. Yes, Boopsie,..haunting, chilling, beautiful.... I was stunned at the ending. To this day..I think about this movie, often, which is odd. I see the tvguides for overboard with Goldie Hawn and WISH that once, (maybe twice or as much) that instead of the overboard with Goldie Hawn coming on every week, this overboard would show up.....i wish i wish. If you can see this movie anywhere, do so.

"Overboard" was broadcast on daytime TV today. It's a fascinating character study of two flawed individuals who are constantly seeking answers and fulfillment in their lives.

Beautifully photographed and tragic in its execution this is one TV movie that has been shamefully overlooked. One of Angie Dickinson's best ever performances - on a par with her turn in "A Sensitive, Passionate Man" - also broadcast on Irish TV last year.

7/10