''Going Overboard'' is a 1989 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Valerie Breiman, and starring

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

in his film debut, Burt Young,

Allen Covert Allen Stephen Covert (born October 13, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his starring role in the 2006 comedy film '' Grandma's Boy'', and his supporting actor role in the movie '' Strange Wilderne ...

Billy Zane William George Zane Jr. (born February 24, 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the Australian film ''Dead Calm (film), Dead Calm'' (1989), a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association, ...

, Terry Moore, Milton Berle, and

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

in a small role. It was released on October 27, 1989. The film was also released by Vidmark Entertainment in 1995. Sandler would later have a breakout role for the film '' Billy Madison'' after working on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''.

Plot

Shecky Moskowitz is a struggling

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

working on a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

. Shecky gets his chance to be the ship's comedian when it is thought that the regular insult comedian, Dickie Diamond, had fallen overboard and drowned. (Dickie actually locked himself in the men's room.) Shecky is nervous about performing, but King Neptune convinces him to go for the opportunity by telling Shecky about the power of laughter. Shecky's first performance is very unsuccessful as he is booed off the stage, he is especially heckled by the construction worker Dave. However, after a lecture by Milton Berle, Shecky succeeds in making the audience laugh. At that point, two terrorists sent by General Noriega come on board and want to kill Miss Australia after she insulted him. Shecky, remembering the advice about the power of laughter, saves her by promising to put the

assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s in a film. Dickie pleads to God for mercy and the men's room door is unlocked; he quickly blasphemes as an insult to God and returns to his performance, but the people no longer like him. The film ends with everyone dancing and Noriega setting off a bomb.

Cast

as Shecky Moskowitz * Tom Hodges as Bob * Lisa Collins as Ellen * Scott LaRose as Dickie Diamond * Burt Young as General Noriega * Adam Rifkin as Croaker / Miss Spain *

Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy '' The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night ...

as Mort Ginsberg * Ricky Paull Goldin as Achmed * Warren Selko as Ekebem *

as The Bartender *

as King Neptune * Terry Moore as Mistress * Milton Berle as himself *

as Dave * Dan Povenmire as Yellow Teeth guitarist * Steven Brill as Priest * Gabe Sachs as Funeral Moaner

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has four reviews listed, all of which are negative. David Nusair of ''Reel Film Reviews'' gave it zero out of four, and called it "...a slapdash and thoroughly amateurish piece of work that suffers from a total dearth of positive attributes." J.R. Taylor of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave it a grade D.

References

External links

* {{Adam Sandler 1989 films 1989 comedy films 1989 directorial debut films 1980s sex comedy films American comedy films American sex comedy films 1980s English-language films Films set on ships Films shot in New Orleans Films with screenplays by Adam Sandler Lionsgate films Seafaring films Trimark Pictures films 1980s American films Films set on cruise ships English-language sex comedy films