Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Ella-May O'Brien
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
SnoopyStyle
It's 1963. Charlotte Flax (Winona Ryder) is a teen obsessed with Catholicism despite being Jewish. Her sister Kate (Christina Ricci) swims like a fish. She calls her mother Mrs. Flax (Cher). After yet another failed relationship with her married boss, Mrs. Flax randomly chooses coastal Eastport, Massachusetts and leaves Oklahoma. Charlotte falls for local handyman 26 year old Joe and overjoyed with the local convent. Meanwhile Mrs. Flax is courted by shoe store owner Lou Landsky (Bob Hoskins).It is a fine coming-of-age movie that concentrates heavily on the interior monologue of Charlotte. Her imaginative confused teenage mind lends itself to some comedy. It does need more and funnier jokes. It's more like a slice of quirky teenage observations. The movie needs some kind of end point or goal. Even if the goal is something fanciful like Charlotte wanting to be a saint or maybe simply wanting to be a nun.
lasttimeisaw
I'm conquering another Cher's film, perhaps her lesser-known one, MERMAIDS sets up in the 1960s with an unorthodox pair of a middle-age single mother and her adolescent daughter, both try to manage their lives in their own ways (dealing with the conundrum with men is a befuddling task for both), also attenuates the accruing conflicts between them. The film is directed by actor-turn-director hack Richard Benjamin and the overall reception is a sloppy sentimental piece of essay on woman's independence and religious ambivalence. The story goes smoothly with an occasionally witty, but otherwise run-of-the-mill narrative (the highlight for me is the "ocean in the room time" which effectually casts a genuine uplift upon me), Cher seems to steer onto a more restrained way of acting to manifest her "modern new woman" pioneer archetype, unwed mother with 2 children, casually flirting with men, sleeping with men and taking on a not-so-serious relationship with Bob Hoskins (a deliberate set with a jarring comparison). But this time, the film's saving grace is not from their adult cast (considering a considerately miscast Michael Schoeffling as the handsome but rather stiff love interest of Ryder), but two young starlets, Ryder and Ricci. Ryder has her own "terms of endearment" moments near the finale, a mutual emotional burst with Cher, and most of the time she is the leading role or at least the co-leads (ironically Golden Globe thought hers is a supporting role, a typical discrimination still prevailing now towards the young talents). Her incessant voice-over of a young girl's world inward is the driving force to propel the film and its audience into the (now) somewhat dated world-of-view in those days. Ricci is simply endearing as the "young mermaid/swimmer" sister, there is a soppy point one dreads her safety during the drowning accident, and labelled as a comedy-drama, the film dares not to risk dragging itself into a self-reprimand moral abyss which could sabotage all the generic concoctions it has achieved.
Neil Welch
A plot synopsis makes this film sound weird, and I think maybe it is. Told through the eyes of older daughter Charlotte (Winona Ryder), who is at that awkward teenage stage when, well, you know, it concerns the Flax family in 1960s middle America. Mother Mrs Flax (Cher) has trouble settling down. Every time anything close to permanency approaches, Mrs Flax ups sticks and she, Charlotte, and little Kate (Christina Ricci, cute as a button an an early child role) move somewhere else. Charlotte badly needs to put down some roots, especially as she has an eye on this handsome local lad. But local shoe shop proprietor Lou (Bob Hoskins) has his eye on Mrs Flax, and things are nearing the tipping point again.This film is quirky and quite charming, with terrific performances from the four principals, a lot of laughs, and a little bit of heartbreak too. The period era is nicely evoked and there is a good selection of music from the era. And the closing sequence, with the Flax family preparing a meal (with Mrs Flax's typical selection of picnic finger foods - she's not a big fan of cooking) while singing and dancing along to the Shoop Shoop Song, is absolutely joyous.Recommended.
Maddyclassicfilms
Mermaids is directed by Richard Benjamin, has a screenplay by June Roberts, is based on the novel by Patty Dann and stars Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci.Charlotte Flax(Winona Ryder)and her younger sister Kate(Christina Ricci)have to learn to cope with their mum moving them all over the country whenever things don't go right for her in her failed relationships.Their mum(Cher)is a glamorous woman who can be a bit shocking at times.She adores Kate but doesn't know what to do with Charlotte who's just trying to find her place in the world.They family move to a small town near to a convent(at which Charlotte is thrilled) and she ends up falling in love with the gorgeous caretaker there Joe(Michael Schoeffling).Mrs Flax finds romance of her own with kind shoe salesman Lou Landsky(Bob Hoskins)who is the one man to reach her heart and he may just be the man for her.Funny and moving Mermaids will have you laughing and crying. The whole cast give superb performances especially Cher and Winona. A great family film.
