Mermaids
Short description
Mermaids follows Rachel Flax, a free-spirited single mother who uproots her two daughters whenever a romance falls apart, and her daughters have grown weary of the constant moves. When the family settles in a small Massachusetts town in the early 1960s, fifteen-year-old Charlotte hopes they can finally stay, especially once her mother begins seeing Lou Landsky, the local shoe shop owner. Charlotte, who is intensely drawn to Catholic devotion, finds her own feelings for an older man complicating the household, while her younger sister Kate pursues a swimming ambition of her own. The story centers on the friction between a mother's restlessness and her daughters' need for stability.
Richard Benjamin directed the film, which sits between Little Nikita and Downtown in a run of features he made from the early 1980s onward. June Roberts wrote the screenplay, and Cher plays Rachel, with Winona Ryder as Charlotte, Bob Hoskins as Lou, Michael Schoeffling as Joe Porretti and Christina Ricci as Kate. The production had a budget of 31 million dollars and returned about 35 million worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 6.7/10 from around 41,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7/10 from roughly 623 votes. A critics' rating of 6.1/10 from 24 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- This film was to be the first American film by director Lasse Hallström, until he clashed with leading actress Cher and was replaced by Richard Benjamin.
- Christina Ricci's debut film.
- The role of Charlotte was intended for Emily Lloyd, who was to receive $435,000 and 2.5% of the box office receipts. When Cher expressed dissatisfaction that the blonde Lloyd did not resemble her daughter, she was removed from the cast and replaced by Winona Ryder. Lloyd later won a substantial sum of money from the studio in court for her dismissal from the film.
- The original director, Frank Oz, was also replaced at Cher's request.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
