Romancing the Stone

Romancing the Stone. 1984 20th Century Fox.
Starring: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Available from Amazon.

Initially dismissed as a ripoff of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this film became a surprise hit in 1984, and director Robert Zemeckis credited its success to being able to direct Back to the Future the following year. 20th Century Fox still saw fit to terminate the director from directing the then-in-production Cocoon after viewing a rough cut of the movie; Romancing the Stone turned out to be their only sizable box office success that year.

Joan Wilder (Turner) is a novelist who just completed her latest book. She doesn't have long to celebrate, as the next day, a package from her deceased brother-in-law Eduardo, who had been recently murdered and dismembered, arrives on her doorstep. Shortly thereafter, after Joan's apartment is ransacked, her widowed sister Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor) calls her, begging to come down to Colombia with the package. She's been kidnapped, and the mysterious package is the ransom. Joan flies out of New York City immediately.

Zolo (Manuel Ojeda), who was responsible for Eduardo's murder, sidetracks Joan by tricking her into getting on the wrong bus, the one not going to Cartagena. She gets stranded in the jungle, and Zolo almost bumps her off, but she is saved by one Jack T. Colton (Douglas), who just happened to be there. Joan promises him $375.00 in travelers' checks if he can help her get to Cartagena. We also learn that Eduardo's package includes a map, but Joan declines to investigate where the map leads when Jack suggests it. Zolo, we learn, commands the Colombian police as his personal army, and he wants the map.

Jack and Joan are also being trailed by Ralph (DeVito), a petty crook who is a cousin to one of Elaine's kidnappers, but they gain an ally in Juan (Alfonso Arau), a fan of Joan's books, who helps them elude Zolo. They find a giant emerald called El Corazon, but get chased by Zolo and Ralph, and end up separated by a raging river. They promise to meet in Cartagena, where they hope to rescue Elaine, and figure out what they're going to do with that emerald...if it doesn't get swallowed by a crocodile along the way.

Recommended film.