Recently saw the classic movie and its disappointing sequel. Here are my thoughts all these years later.
Romancing the Stone (1984): Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) has just finished her latest romance novel and celebrates with her cat. Despite being a hopeless romantic, Joan appears to be a shut-in who will eventually become a cat lady. Then she receives word that her sister has been kidnapped and her brother in-law murdered in Columbia. She must deliver a map that her brother-in-law mailed to her before he was killed and trade it for her sister. No sooner does she arrive than she is lured onto the wrong bus by a mysterious stranger who has been stalking her. The stranger is about to kill her when Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) arrives to save the day.
The map leads to a treasure. Jack, who is something of a scoundrel and opportunist, sees a chance to get rich quick. The stranger proves to be a ruthless military officer with a death squad tone about him who wants the treasure for undisclosed reasons. The kidnappers are Ira and Ralph (Danny DeVito), a pair of thieves who smuggle antiquities; this treasure promises to make all their previous efforts pale in comparison. Joan is in the middle, mostly dependent upon Jack for keeping her safe in this unfamiliar country.
The movie is a good blend of action and romance. Jack proves to be less of a scoundrel than he first seems and Joan blossoms into a confident and outgoing woman. There is plenty of comedy, much of it provided by the hapless Ralph. Being the 8th top grossing movie of the year, it spawned a sequel.
The Jewel of the Nile (1985): Joan's latest novel is not going well. Now that she has sailed halfway around the world with Jack, romance doesn't have the same appeal. Offered the chance to author a biography of a Middle Eastern potentate and her relationship with Jack on the rocks, she jumps ship. No sooner has Joan left than Jack is accosted by a very angry Ralph, who ended the last film in a Columbian jail. A rebel from the potentate's country (probably meant to be Sudan, though never named) arrives to recruit Jack to his cause, which is to save the Jewel of the Nile. Ralph makes peace with Jack provided he gets a cut of this jewel.
Whereas the last movie was an adventure romance with comic elements, this one is a comedy with adventure and romance elements. Joan as biographer doesn't play well and it goes badly from the start. She plays more like Lois Lane here than Nora Roberts. Jack is no longer a man of action but rather a comedic bumpkin. He is more a victim of the situation than the captain of it. That the jewel turned out to be a person with magical immunity to fire was groan-inducing. Though this one did just as well at the box office as its predecessor, it did not result in a trilogy.
Definitely see Romancing the Stone but don't ruin your opinion of the characters by watching The Jewel of the Nile.
Romancing the Stone (1984): Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) has just finished her latest romance novel and celebrates with her cat. Despite being a hopeless romantic, Joan appears to be a shut-in who will eventually become a cat lady. Then she receives word that her sister has been kidnapped and her brother in-law murdered in Columbia. She must deliver a map that her brother-in-law mailed to her before he was killed and trade it for her sister. No sooner does she arrive than she is lured onto the wrong bus by a mysterious stranger who has been stalking her. The stranger is about to kill her when Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) arrives to save the day.
The map leads to a treasure. Jack, who is something of a scoundrel and opportunist, sees a chance to get rich quick. The stranger proves to be a ruthless military officer with a death squad tone about him who wants the treasure for undisclosed reasons. The kidnappers are Ira and Ralph (Danny DeVito), a pair of thieves who smuggle antiquities; this treasure promises to make all their previous efforts pale in comparison. Joan is in the middle, mostly dependent upon Jack for keeping her safe in this unfamiliar country.
The movie is a good blend of action and romance. Jack proves to be less of a scoundrel than he first seems and Joan blossoms into a confident and outgoing woman. There is plenty of comedy, much of it provided by the hapless Ralph. Being the 8th top grossing movie of the year, it spawned a sequel.
The Jewel of the Nile (1985): Joan's latest novel is not going well. Now that she has sailed halfway around the world with Jack, romance doesn't have the same appeal. Offered the chance to author a biography of a Middle Eastern potentate and her relationship with Jack on the rocks, she jumps ship. No sooner has Joan left than Jack is accosted by a very angry Ralph, who ended the last film in a Columbian jail. A rebel from the potentate's country (probably meant to be Sudan, though never named) arrives to recruit Jack to his cause, which is to save the Jewel of the Nile. Ralph makes peace with Jack provided he gets a cut of this jewel.
Whereas the last movie was an adventure romance with comic elements, this one is a comedy with adventure and romance elements. Joan as biographer doesn't play well and it goes badly from the start. She plays more like Lois Lane here than Nora Roberts. Jack is no longer a man of action but rather a comedic bumpkin. He is more a victim of the situation than the captain of it. That the jewel turned out to be a person with magical immunity to fire was groan-inducing. Though this one did just as well at the box office as its predecessor, it did not result in a trilogy.
Definitely see Romancing the Stone but don't ruin your opinion of the characters by watching The Jewel of the Nile.
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