Two Kurt Russells

I wouldn't say that my father is a simple man, but he is a man of few obvious interests. That makes him difficult to buy gifts for. His relative dearth of expressed interests applies to films as much as to anything else. Two of the only films I know he likes are the Kurt Russell comedies Overboard and Captain Ron.

The former tells the story of a carpenter (Russell). He's a scheming, drinking sleazy kind of lout. He is hired to do some work on board a yacht by socialite Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn). An accident occurs on board, and Stayton is thrown overboard. Due to the trauma, she experiences amnesia. The carpenter convinces her that they are married, and hilarity ensues.

The latter film uses Russell's comedic skills similarly. He plays the titular character, who is hired to sail a yach inherited by straitlaced yuppie Martin Harvey (Martin Short). Captain Ron is a gritty, hardbitten type. In spite of his self-confidence and worldliness, he is quite incompetent, and leads Harvey's family through a series of comical misadventures.

Apart from the two clear commonalities, which is to say Kurt Russell and yachts, the two films bear great similarity. Russell plays characters who distinguish themselves from each other very little. Each film is very much about opposites clashing with each other. Overboard, in fact, could be called a true screwball comedy. Captain Ron is not, but the dynamic works similarly.

The tone and tenor of the films are alike as well. There's a preponderance of broad comedy, but it mixes well with comedy of a somewhat more sophisticated nature (albeit couched in deliberately crude language. There's slapstick as well as witty dialogue.

What it comes down to is that these films can be called guilty pleasures, but they work. They may be down-market, but they are totally sound and are quite able to induce many laughs. They may not carry deep meaning, but they are cherished by me for the state of mind they put my father in, and the way they bring us together. They may not do that for you and the people you care about, but something probably does, and it very well may feature Kurt Russell.