Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile
ROMANCING THE STONE (12)
D: Robert Zemeckis
20th Century Fox/El Corazon (Michael
Douglas)
US 1984
106 mins
Adventure/Comedy/Romance
W: Diane Thomas
DP: Dean Cundey
Ed: Donn Cambern & Frank Morriss
Mus: Alan Silvestri
PD: Lawrence G. Paull
Michael Douglas (Jack T. Colton), Kathleen
Turner (Joan Wilder), Danny DeVito (Ralph), Zack Norman (Ira), Alfonso Arau (Juan), Manuel Ojeda (Colonel Zolo), Mary Ellen Trainor (Elaine Wilder)
Partial adventure, partial comedy and partial love story
with great performances from the main trio of cast members Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito. Likened to several Indiana Jones clones following the success of Raiders Of The
Lost Ark, this was by far one of the better efforts with a near perfect blend of riveting action, amusing situations and dialogue and romantic chemistry between the two leads.
Kathleen Turner plays Mills & Boon-style soppy romance
novelist Joan Wilder, whose sister is kidnapped in Colombia and held for ransom over a treasure map in Joan's possession. Upon her arrival in the South American country, she's tricked into
taking the wrong bus which takes her deep into the jungle. Stranded, she enlists the help of bird catcher Jack T. Colton (Douglas), who agrees to help her...for a price. All the while they're
pursued by inept gangster Danny DeVito and a group of corrupt Colombian soldiers.
It's typically the sort of far-fetched action-adventure
you'd expect from the 1980's but is a huge amount of fun. The characters reprised their adventures in sequel Jewel Of The Nile, but unfortunately it was nowhere near as fun.
8/10
THE JEWEL OF THE NILE (PG)
D: Lewis Teague
20th Century Fox (Michael Douglas)
US 1985
104 mins
Adventure/Comedy
W: Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner [based on characters
created by Diane Thomas]
DP: Jan de Bont
Ed: Michael Ellis & Peter Boita
Mus: Jack Nitzsche
Michael Douglas (Jack Colton), Kathleen Turner (Joan Wilder),
Danny DeVito (Ralph), Spiros Focas (Omar)
Dull, needless sequel to Romancing The Stone (qv) which casts
aside the romance subplot from the first film in favour of an Indiana Jones-style adventure.
Kathleen Turner returns as romance novelist, Joan Wilder,
sunning it up on Michael Douglas' yacht off the coast of Monaco, but the trouble begins when she accepts an invitation from a corrupt Middle Eastern monarch to stay at his mansion and write a
book about him.
Of course, Michael Douglas swoops in to save the day, but with
a change of both director and writer, this is as far from the original film as it could dare to be. It's far from being a gem.
5/10
