The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Splash
Comedy · Romance · Fantasy · 1984
A successful businessman falls in love with the girl of his dreams. There's one big complication though; he's fallen hook, line and sinker for a mermaid.
Movie details
Splash
“She was the woman of Allen's dreams. She had large dark eyes, a beautiful smile and a great pair of fins.”
1984 Comedy · Romance · Fantasy 1h 50m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
A successful businessman falls in love with the girl of his dreams. There's one big complication though; he's fallen hook, line and sinker for a mermaid.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Splash?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Kate & Leopold
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Irish Wish
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Maddie's dream guy is days away from marrying her best friend when a wish for true love made on an ancient stone in Ireland magically alters her fate.
Isn't It Romantic
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For a long time, Natalie, an Australian architect living in New York City, had always believed that what she had seen in rom-coms is all fantasy. But after thwarting a mugger at a subway station only to be knocked out while fleeing, Natalie wakes up and discovers that her life has suddenly become her worst nightmare—a romantic comedy—and she is the leading lady.
Penelope
Fantasy · 2007
Forlorn heiress Penelope Wilhern is cursed, and the only way out is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she find her soulmate when she's sequestered inside her family's estate with only her parents to keep her company? This untraditional fairy tale is about a girl who bucks convention to create her own happy ending.
Relationship Goals
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When TV producer Leah Caldwell aims to become the first woman running New York's top morning show, her ex competes for the same role. Leah stays focused on her career, until chemistry with her ex challenges her priorities.
Yoh! Bestie
Romance · 2026
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
For Love or Money
Comedy · 1993
New York concierge Doug Ireland wants to go into business for himself and refurbish a hotel on Roosevelt Island, N.Y., but he needs an investor. With a few weeks left before his option on the site runs out, Doug agrees to help wealthy Christian Hanover conceal his affair with salesgirl Andy Hart from his wife. Despite his own attraction to Andy, Doug tries to stay focused on getting Christian to invest $3 million in his project.
Love, Weddings & Other Disasters
Romance · 2020
A fussy celebrity caterer, a blind woman, a tour-bus guide and an inexperienced wedding planner search for love.
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Romance · 2023
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
The Woman in Red
Comedy · 1984
When a happily married family man, who would never consider an affair, meets a beautiful woman in red, he is totally infatuated and desperate to make her acquaintance. However, as he tries out various schemes to sneak out to meet her, he realizes that adultery is not quite as easy as it looks.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ron Howard
Written by
Bruce Jay Friedman · Lowell Ganz · Babaloo Mandel
Tom Hanks
Allen Bauer
Daryl Hannah
Madison
Eugene Levy
Walter Kornbluth
John Candy
Freddie Bauer
Dody Goodman
Mrs. Stimler
Shecky Greene
Mr. Buyrite
Richard B. Shull
Dr. Ross
Court is in session
Put Splash on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.