Going Overboard

Going Overboard is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Valerie Breiman, and stars Adam Sandler in his film debut, Burt Young, Allen Covert, Billy Zane, Terry Moore, Milton Berle, and Billy Bob Thornton in a small role. The film was originally released in 1989, but once Sandler became successful after appearing on Saturday Night Live and starring in the film Billy Madison, it was given a wider release by Vidmark Entertainment in 1995.

Plot
Shecky Moskowitz (Adam Sandler) is a struggling comedian working on a cruise ship. Shecky gets his chance to be the ship's comedian when it is thought that the regular comedian, Dickie Diamond (Scott LaRose), had fallen overboard and drowned. (Dickie actually locked himself in the men's room.) Shecky is nervous about performing, but King Neptune (Billy Zane) convinces him to go for the opportunity by telling Shecky about the power of laughter. Shecky's first performance is very unsuccessful as he is booed off the stage, he is especially heckled by the construction worker Dave (Billy Bob Thornton). However, after a lecture by Milton Berle, Shecky succeeds in making the audience laugh. At that point, the terrorists come on board and want to kill Miss Australia. Shecky, remembering the advice about the power of laughter, saves her by promising to put the assassins in a film.

Cast

 * Adam Sandler as Shecky Moskowitz
 * Burt Young as General Noriega
 * Tom Hodges as Bob
 * Scott LaRose as Dickie Diamond
 * Lisa Collins as Ellen
 * Allen Covert as The Bartender
 * Billy Zane as King Neptune
 * Terry Moore as Mistress
 * Milton Berle (credited) as himself
 * Billy Bob Thornton as Dave
 * Dan Povenmire as Yellow Teeth guitarist
 * Steven Brill as Priest
 * Peter Berg as Mort Ginsberg
 * Adam Rifkin as Croaker / Miss Spain
 * Gabe Sachs as Funeral Moaner
 * Ricky Paull Goldin as Terrorist Without Shirt
 * Warren Selko as Terrorist With Mustache

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has four reviews listed, all of which are negative.

David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews gave it zero out of four, and called it "...a slapdash and thoroughly amateurish piece of work that suffers from a total dearth of positive attributes." J.R. Taylor of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade D.