Mermaids [VHS]
	Rating
	Type	VHS Tape
	Audience Rating	PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
	Release Date	1999-10-05
	Actor	Cher; Bob Hoskins; Winona Ryder; Michael Schoeffling; Christina Ricci;
	Director	Richard Benjamin;
	Length	110 minutes
	List Price	$9.94
	Special Price
	Lowest New Price	$5.80
	Lowest Used Price	$0.98
Categories
Cher  Hoskins, Bob  McWilliams, Caroline  Ricci, Christina  Ryder, Winona  Schoeffling, Michael  Benjamin, Richard  All MGM Titles  Comedy  VHS  PG-13  MGM Movie Time
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Description
In the early '60s, nomadic single mom Mrs. Flax (Cher) packs up her two daughters, Charlotte (Winona Ryder) and Kate (Christina Ricci), in a beat-up Chevy wagon and moves to small-town Massachusetts. Preteen Kate is obsessed together with swimming, while 15-year-old Charlotte is searching for ways to rebel against her mom (and mom's flirty ways). The route she chooses is to become fascinated together with Catholicism and all its arcane rituals, even though the family is Jewish. Her coming of age is handled together with plenty of Wonder Years-style voiceovers as she fantasizes concerning Christ, the saints, the Pope, the Church--all things Catholic. Cracks in her religious armor initiate to be visible, though, in the shape of a hunky local guy (Michael Schoeffling) who works at the convent. Meanwhile, her mom strikes up a romance together with the town shoe-store proprietor, Lou (Bob Hoskins). Though Richard Benjamin's movie is a bit slow and tends to lose its focus somewhat in the last third, Mermaids in addition has fairly credible dialogue and surprisingly believable chemistry between Cher and Hoskins. The segments dealing together with JFK's assassination are handled particularly well, and while Ricci's role is a rather small one, she's charming nonetheless. It's all too simple for coming-of-age movies to veer toward the maudlin, but thankfully this engaging comedy-drama seldom does. Cher, by the way, reprises her 1966 Sonny and Cher look, substituting a tight skirt and pumps for her turtleneck and fur vest. --Jerry Renshaw
Customer Reviews
A place to find "hard to find" titles   2010-07-24
By Barbara Coppola
I could not find this movie in any DVD rental store or for sale at any retail store. Amazon was the only place to find this movie,which is one of my favoites, and now one of my daughters favorites.
Pretty cute and funny movie   2010-05-04
By Gabrielle
This movie is defintely cute and funny and Winona Ryder is a talented and beautiful and perfect actress, she is very good and cute and charsmatic and smooth. I admire her acting abibty. She is very cool. I think she is a cool person. I like her so much. Anyway this movie plays like a cable TV movie and it's a little out there and silly but it's a funny and serious and dark film. A mother who has lots of relaionshops with men has two daughters: a 15-year-old who wants to be a virgin Catholic and who is embarassed by her flamoyant mother Charlotte and her little sister Kate who is a swimmer and very atlethic. She is very cute but too young to notice her mother's eccentic ways. Charlotte, however, can see them flat out. The whole family moves to a small New England village where Charlotte falls for a cute boy and also runs away from the town and is dragged back by her mother. She feels bad for even kissing the boy she loves, and she hopes her life will make a drastic change. She isn't like her mother, but certainely does act like her sometimes. She imamtes her mother one night, and she and her sister get drunk and her sister nearly drowns while she fools around with a boy. This angers her mother, because her sister nearly dies. She want to know why her daughter is trying to be the town slut while her daughter furiously replies, "I don't need to be that Mom, the town's already got one!" The two argue until they both come to their senses and her mother (thank God) actually settles down with a nice mild-mannered man who she dates and thinks is a worthy propose. Her daughter blooms and gets together with the man of her dreams. Her sister gets better and goes back to her swimming. I guess the three live happily ever after. "Mermaids" is a funny and cute and cult coming-of-age comedy and it's also very serious and well-acted and good. I liked Winona, she was awesome. She's very talented and a seriously mature actress when she did this movie when she was very young. Her mother is played by Cher, and she is alright. Chrisina Ricci was cute and good at this age and very mature. The rest of the actors are alright. I think this movie is a good movie, and it's also interesting to watch. I love Winona's movies, they're so perfect. And she's very perfect in every sense of the word.
Mermaids   2010-03-28
By Diane Martindale (Blythe, Ca. USA)
Great movie. I'm glad I own it so I can watch it over and over.
Mermaids   2009-12-28
By S. K. Huckaby (Jonesboro, LA)
I love this movie!! Cher is great and of course so is Winona Ryder!! This was the only place I could find this movie no retailers in our area had it. I ordered it and received it within just a few days with standard shipping, even with the Christmas rush!!
One Of The Best   2009-09-14
By C. Davis (Kansas City)
For many years I have always loved Mermaids, it has a kind of a feeling to it when watching it. The beginning of Summer I tried to buy it off Amazon and realized it was discountinued from print. Not losing hope I did look in other places online with no luck. So here recently I was shopping at a Target store and came across a copy of Mermaids, I was so happy that it was on sale for about $8.00. I couldn't beleive it!! Although the DVD is out of print I guess some stores still carry a few limited copys that are still new. The movie is amazing, Cher is amazing!! The whole cast of Mermaids is suberb in this movie, one of my few faves with Cher & Winona Ryder. If anyone comes across a copy of Mermaids on DVD, I truly recommend to buy as it is so hard to find a new copy to own.