But Dean spies her photo on TV and, seeking payback, convinces her he’s her husband. Over the years, critics have assailed the film for the abuse Annie receives after moving to his ramshackle house; Birth. Movies. Death. has called the film “the most heartwarming rom-com about gaslighting ever made.” But Dixon doesn’t understand the fuss.
“The premise of this movie is utterly ridiculous,” she says. “I think because it’s Kurt and Goldie, no one gets mad at them. . . . People have never mentioned, at any point when the film came out or since, that they hate him for what he’s doing to her.”
Modern audiences may feel more comfortable with the gender-swapped remake of Overboard that’s coming to theaters next year, with Anna Faris playing the Russell part and Eugenio Derbez filling in for Hawn part. Or maybe not: “In this day and age, there’s something that feels peculiar at best and unsavory at worst about a woman bringing a man into her home when she has four daughters,” Dixon says of the remake, which she wasn’t involved in. (Enough of her original script was used for the W.G.A. to give her a writing credit on the film.) “A strange man? It’ll be interesting to see if the audience can get past that conceit. . . . I don’t want the film to fail—they’re very nice guys—but they have a bit of a challenge.”