Going Overboard

{{Infobox film

| name = Going Overboard

| image = goingoverboard.gif

| caption = DVD cover

| director = Valerie Breiman

| writer = Valerie Breiman

| producer = Mark Daniel Jones
Adam Rifkin

| starring = Adam Sandler
Burt Young

| cinematography = Ron Jacobs

| editing = Randy D. Wiles

| music = Steven "Scooby" Scott Smalley

| studio = L.A. Dreams Productions

| distributor = Theater Technologies, Inc.
Vidmark Entertainment

| released = {{Film date|1989|10|27}}

| runtime = 97 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $800,000

}}

Going Overboard is a 1989 American comedy film written and directed by Valerie Breiman, and starring Adam Sandler in his film debut, Burt Young, Allen Covert, Billy Zane, Terry Moore, Milton Berle, and Billy Bob Thornton 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.

Plot

Shecky Moskowitz is a struggling comedian working on a cruise ship. 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 assassins 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

Adam Sandler 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 as Mort Ginsberg
Ricky Paull Goldin as Achmed
Warren Selko as Ekebem
Allen Covert as The Bartender
Billy Zane as King Neptune
Terry Moore as Mistress
Milton Berle as himself
Billy Bob Thornton as Dave
Dan Povenmire as Yellow Teeth guitarist
Steven Brill as Priest
Gabe Sachs as Funeral Moaner

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has four reviews listed, all of which are negative.{{cite web |title=Babes Ahoy (1989) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/going_overboard |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2021-01-01 }}

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."{{cite web |date=2012 |author=David Nusair |title=Two Comedies from TVA - Reviews by David Nusair |url=https://reelfilm.com/tvacom1.htm#going |website=ReelFilm.com }}

J.R. Taylor of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade D.{{cite magazine |date=August 4, 1995 |author=J.R. Taylor |title=Going Overboard |url=https://ew.com/article/1995/08/04/going-overboard/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly }}