Splash *

More B-grade Tom Hanks viewing. This one is about an over-worked New Yorker, who as a child was rescued from drowning by a mermaid-child. Fast forward 20 years, he falls over board again (different boat) and the same mermaid saves him (again). She decides to leave the water (for 3 days) and together they find true love of sorts.

This movie was Tom Hanks' first big break -- the first movie where he played the lead. It is also the start of a series of films where Tom Hanks played comic characters that were pretty much stamped out of the same mold. There's a lot of similarities between the way he plays the lead here in Splash (1984) and his character in Big (1988) and in Joe Versus the Volcano (1990). By 1993 and Sleepless in Seattle, he started acting uniquely for different roles. What did I think of the movie? I found it fairly painful although my 8-year old liked it very much.