A mother and daughter fable. Rachel Flax (Cher) is sexy, sassy, brassy and on the move from town to town, and man to man.

Her idea of a solid meal is a marshmallow kebab.

Her motto is 'Life is change, and death is dwelling in the past or staying in one place too long'.

Daughter Charlotte (Winona Ryder) thinks she wants to be a nun (no mean feat as they're Jewish) but finds she has too many of mother's hormones floating around and falls heavily for the hunky caretaker out at the nunnery instead.

There's also a younger daughter (Christina Ricci) who wants to be a swimming champ.

The film really revolves round Cher and Ryder and they keep it flowing warmly along in spite of the fact that deceptively little actually happens.

Bob Hoskins is sweetly blue-collar as the man who may make momma settle down, but he's kept pretty much on the sidelines as the mermaids try to sort out a life together, via a rather contrived emotional climax.