before ron howard concentrate his energy on make film that be very messagey and think provoking ( even if he doesn not always succeed ) and back at the beginning of his career he be a little more wild and adventurous . film like night shift and grand theft auto be rather more zany than anything he do nowadays . but the film that propel him to the a list of director be splash . splash also feel different from ron howard film of recent year . this be a film make with a great deal of zest and obvious fun on howard part . it a simple but magical fairytale that you really grow to love . it also mark the first of howard association with tom hank . a friendship that still continue today with hit like the superb apollo 13 and the completely overrated da vinci code . there be not many live action film about mermaid and which make splash rather unique . it not a perfect film . it have a few flaw and it a little too lightweight and the end be slightly odd but it also a fun way to pass the time . allan bauer ( hank ) co manage a fruit and veg market with his brother freddie ( the late and great john candy ) . he long for love in his life ever since he be rescue from drown a a boy by a mermaid . he never forget the incident . and neither have she . after allan be dump by his girlfriend and he go back to cape cod to be alone . the place where he meet the mermaid . but when he get into trouble and he be rescue by the same one . only now she a beautiful grownup mermaid ( wonderfully play by a perfectly cast daryl hannah ) . allan go back to new york and she follow . when on dry land and she have legs . but if she ever get wet and she turn back into a mermaid . she name herself madison ( after the street ) and start a relationship with allan that blossom into true love . but trouble loom on the horizon from an obsessed scientist dr walter kornbluth ( eugene levy ) who want to expose madison to the world . splash be make with such a bubbly and infectious cheer it almost impossible to dislike . here your chance to see tom hank at the beginning of his career before he become a favourite with the oscar crowd . it quite nice to see him in a part where he just out to have fun . big be still his best film performance of the 80 ( and 90 and 00s . ) but splash have him on good form . and john candy be quite the scene stealer a the boisterous and large than life freddie . he obviously have a good time in this film . play a part not that far remove from the wild partying he indulge in real life . although candy be good and there be moment of painful anguish with foreknowledge of what be to come for him . but the shin light of the entire film be the lovely and criminally underrated daryl hannah . madison be a part she be bear to play . it hard to imagine any other woman more suited to the part of a mermaid than daryl hannah . with her long golden hair and statuesque figure and shiny baby blue and natural beauty she be just captivate . not only be she physically match to the role and but hannah have the right personality too . sometimes daryl hannah can seem a little spacy in her film role and but it exactly that quality that make her so perfect in the part of madison . she bring a child like sense of wonder and astonishment that make her a very appeal screen presence and and she even have a majestic grace in the underwater scene ( which be beautifully photograph by the way ) . the real fun to be have be madison navigate her way through a world she doesn not really understand . she eat lobster ravenously and she think nothing of walk through crowd stark naked and and absorbs knowledge from television where she pick up the human language in a matter of hour . without hannah and splash might have be considerably less than it be . but not everything about splash work . the subplot concern eugene levy character feel unnecessary . all his attempt to expose madison end the same way to the point of repetitiveness . and his character have quite an abrupt change halfway through . he go from be an obsess and obnoxious paranoid man to a person who sympathise with madison plight and help her escape . it a change that doesn not quite ring true . and the end leave me a little puzzled . i could understand allan want to be with madison . but i couldn not quite believe he would leave everything behind to live with her under the sea . it a slightly strange climax that remind me of a similar situation in the time travel romance kate and leopold . i just couldn not accept what i be see . nevertheless and splash be a bouncy and very appealing comedy . one of ron howard best film and and thanks to the cast ( but mostly hannah ) it stay afloat and never sink . so take the plunge .