The movie Goldie Hawn called the “biggest disappointment” of her career
Goldie Hawn got the last laugh with a film that initially seemed to be her most disastrous.
It’s a challenge for actors who have massive success early on in their careers to heighten their achievements, as it can lead to the rest of their work being viewed as a disappointment in comparison, but Hawn started off her career in a pretty unprecedented way when she earned an Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for Cactus Flower, and then transformed into one of the biggest female stars in the world.
At a time when opportunities for women were not often allowed by major studios, she seemed to be making all the right choices, co-starring with Chevy Chase in a few hit comedies, appearing in the first theatrically released film directed by Steven Spielberg, and scoring another Oscar nomination for her role in Private Benjamin. Unfortunately, it was in the ‘80s when Hawn seemed to hit a cold streak, where her movies continuously underperformed.
Facing such a sharp decline can be a particularly disappointing moment of realisation for any star who fears that their career could be in jeopardy. Hollywood tends to have a very short memory, and it’s often the last thing that someone appears in that they end up getting remembered for, so while Hawn knew that she needed to pick better scripts, not even her good judgment was enough to save Overboard from underperforming, which saw her teamed up with her long-time partner, Kurt Russell, with whom she had also appeared in Swing Shift and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.
The fish-out-of-water comedy earned her rave reviews, but the film didn’t capture the box office as expected, making less than $27million on a budget of $22m, which Hawn referred to as one of her worst experiences in the industry.
“It was the biggest disappointment I’ve ever had,” she said, “It’s like having a big fish on the end of your line, and then you bring it up and it just kind of wiggles off your hook”.
Despite the devastating initial response, the film benefited from being released at the right moment, when VHS rentals and circulation broadcasts were at their peak. It was the first time in cinematic history that films with subpar box office reception could have a second life for people seeing them at home.
The positive word-of-mouth that was generated by those who did see Overboard in theatres helped connect it with an audience who hadn’t checked it out the first time, such that it eventually emerged as a cult classic, especially when compared to the other romantic comedies of the era. The late ‘80s were a time in which rom-coms were beginning to be taken more seriously, with films like Working Girl and Moonstruck getting nominated for ‘Best Picture’.
Overboard was simply a fun, slapstick adventure that springboarded off the authentic chemistry between the two leads, whose relationship has persisted to this day, and while there have been several attempts to remake it, none have ever lived up to the original. However, Hawn and Russell had the opportunity to work together again when they co-starred in The Christmas Chronicles films for Netflix.
