Splash

Splash Movie Poster

"Two days ago, this girl showed up naked at the Statue of Liberty.  For Alan Bauer, it was love at first sight.  Now, everyone is chasing her...trying to prove she's a mermaid.  From the first laugh, you'll be hooked".

Splash, released in 1984, was a romantic comedy that starred Tom Hanks as Allen Bauer, Daryl Hannah as Madison, and John Candy as Freddie Bauer.  The movie was initially pitched to Disney, but because of some brief nudity and bad language, Disney created Touchstone Pictures, and Splash was the first movie to be released through that name.  Not only was the movie a major success at the box office, but critics also fancied the film.

In this movie, an 8 year old Allen Bauer is on a site seeing ferry tour with his parents at Cape Cod.  When he sees a young girl in the water, he is inexplicably drawn to her, and he jumps into the water even though he cannot swim.  He grasps her hands, and a deep bond is instantly formed between the two.  After being pulled back onto the boat, Allen realizes that he was the only one to see the mermaid.  As the years go on, he is unable to maintain a relationship, being always drawn back to the emotional connection of that mermaid encounter.

On a return trip to Cape Cod, Allen finds himself on a beach.  After a near drowning, he wakes up to the kiss of Madison, the mermaid he met as an 8 year old (for those of you who don’t know, when a mermaid’s tail dries on land, it becomes legs).  After this encounter, Madison returns to the water, and Allen returns home.  When Madison finds Allen’s wallet in the water, she decides to come find him in New York.  She is remanded to his care.  At some point, the public discovers she is a mermaid, and they take her to a lab for experimentation.  In the end, Allen rescues her, and chooses a life under the sea with her, giving up his life in New York forever.