Taglines: Mom is many things… Normal isn’t one of them.
Mermaids movie storyline. After yet another failed relationship, Mrs. Flax (Cher) ups her family to the east coast to start all over again. Reluctantly dragged along with her is her daughter Charlotte – going through a very confusing time of her life – who wants to become a nun, and instead falls in love with a quiet, mild-mannered church employee, to the mixed response of her mother. Set at around the time of the Kennedy Assassination.
Mermaids is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder (who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress for her role), and Christina Ricci in her first film role. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same title written by Patty Dann. It was shot in and around the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts and Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
About the Story
The film is narrated by Charlotte Flax, a quirky and awkward 15-year old girl living in Oklahoma with her single, eccentric mother, Rachel (whom she calls “Mrs. Flax”), and her sweet nine-year-old sister, Kate. Rachel’s daughters have different fathers—Charlotte is a product of a teenage romance and Kate is from an affair with an athlete.
The narration begins in early fall of 1963. Just as Rachel’s latest fling with her married employer ends, she decides to relocate with Charlotte and Kate once again. This time, they move to a new home near a convent in the small town of Eastport in Massachusetts. Charlotte has an unusual obsession with Catholicism and is always reminded by Rachel that they are Jewish. She idolizes the nuns living in the convent, wanting to become one herself. Kate, on the other hand, loves oceans and swimming. She apparently learned to do so when she was a baby, giving her Olympic potential and allowing her to win many competitions.
In Eastport, Charlotte becomes especially interested in Joe Poretti, the 26-year-old handsome caretaker of the convent and local school bus driver, while Rachel falls in love with a local shop owner named Lou Landsky. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Charlotte believes she is comforting Joe in mourning, and they end up kissing in the bell tower where he rings the church bell. After the encounter, she begins fasting in order to purge her sinful thoughts, but eventually passes out from hunger and starts eating again.
Soon fearing that God may be punishing her by making her pregnant through immaculate conception and unable to talk to her mother about it, she steals Rachel’s car and runs away. She stops at the house of a “perfect nuclear family” in New Haven, Connecticut, asking to spend the night, telling them her name is Sal Val and other wild stories, which they don’t seem to completely believe. Later on, she is picked up by Lou and taken home, where Charlotte immediately receives a harsh scolding from Rachel.
When Rachel calms down after drinking some Scotch liquor, she tells Charlotte that she was worried sick about her safety, and, thinking that it’s her fault that Charlotte ran away from home, admits that even though she’s not an expert in parenting, she’s willing to compromise and try her best to take care of both Charlotte and Kate. The next day, Charlotte makes an appointment at the nearest hospital under the name Joan Arc, where she goes to see an obstetrician and is told she is still a virgin. Relieved, she goes home, dispelled of her assumption that “one kiss can get you pregnant”.
Mermaids (1990)
Directed by: Richard Benjamin
Starring: Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, Michael Schoeffling, Christina Ricci, Caroline McWilliams, Jan Miner, Betsy Townsend, Paula Plum, Patricia Madden
Screenplay by: June Roberts
Production Design by: Stuart Wurtzel
Cinematography by: Howard Atherton
Film Editing by: Jacqueline Cambas
Costume Design by: Marit Allen
Set Decoration by: Hilton Rosemarin
Art Direction by: Evelyn Sakash, Steve Saklad
Music by: Jack Nitzsche
Distributed by: Orion Pictures
Release Date: December 14, 1990
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