Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.
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Cast
- CherRachel Flax
- Winona RyderCharlotte Flax
- Christina RicciKate Flax
- Bob HoskinsLou Landsky
- Michael SchoefflingJoe Porretti
- Caroline McWilliamsCarrie
- Jan MinerMother Superior
- Betsy TownsendMary O'Brien
- Richard McElvainMr. Crain
- Paula PlumMrs. Crain
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Mermaids is not exactly good, but it is not boring. Winona Ryder, in another of her alienated outsider roles, generates real charisma. And what the movie is saying about Cher is as elusive as it is intriguing. - 70
Washington Post
What's lost in momentum is gained back in the unexpectedness of the jokes and the quality of the performances. Mermaids is an infectious, bouncy diversion, like the fruity dance the girls and their mother do around the kitchen table at the film's end. - 60
Empire
All three leads are genuinely appealing here, with Ryder once again acting her bobby sox off and giving yet further reminder of just how sorely she was missed in Godfather III. - 60
The New York Times
A terribly gentle if wisecracking comedy about the serious business of growing up. - 60
Variety
As eccentric mother-daughter films go, this one [from the novel by Patty Dann] falls into the same category as Terms of Endearment, with many of the same comedic pleasures and dramatic pitfalls. The delightful Ryder, billing notwithstanding, is really the star. Cher is also fine as the cavalier, self-centered mom, an equally amusing if less sympathetic character. - 50
Time Out
The film is burdened by curious details and observations, and its preoccupation with all things aquatic (little sister is an ace swimmer, Mom dresses up as a mermaid for New Year's Eve, etc) is overworked. Characterisation suffers, with Charlotte and her mother too self-absorbed to engage our sympathies. Crucially, they just aren't funny. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
Sadly, the film had all the elements to be a very captivating experience, but it fails to bring those elements together into a strong whole. - 50
Boston Globe
Frankly, Mermaids is the kind of movie that needs the strong personalities of Cher and Ryder, and is lucky it has them. They put the movie over. It has a weak script, and the direction by Richard Benjamin - who had two predecessors on this project - is so reticent as to be almost absent. There's almost no pacing or shaping to speak of. [14 Dec 1990, p.53P]
