Romancing the Stone

What’s the Story?

In ROMANCING THE STONE, Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a famous romance novelist, starved for adventure and love in her own life. When her sister is kidnapped, Joan heads to Columbia on a rescue mission and meets Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), a gruff adventurer who helps her escape the various bad guys who want her for a treasure map her dead brother-in-law sent her. As they make their way through the jungle, Jack romances Joan, but his intentions are dubious because he wants the treasure for himself. The two find the buried treasure, only to have Ralph (Danny Devito) and corrupt police officials hot on their trail. Joan heads for Cartegena to save her sister and Jack shows up, as promised. A battle ensues between the various factions, and Jack swims off to retrieve the jewel. Joan returns to New York, thinking she'll never see Jack again.

Is It Any Good?

This well-written action-adventure movie is laced with a sharp sense of humor. The score is also fun, if a bit heavy-handed in a 1980s, "Miami Vice" sort of way. With jungle vine swinging and mudslides down mountainsides, this is a rough and tumble action-adventure story in the spirit of Raiders of the Lost Ark. And for those who want just a little more, Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas generate plenty of sparks. Romancing the Stone also has a delicious tongue-in-cheek quality, with plenty of hilariously incongruous moments.

Kathleen Turner is great as the mousy woman with a hidden spirit of adventure. One 13-year-girl loved her and greatly enjoyed the movie overall. The action kept her glued to the screen and she thought the romance was "fun, not sappy." Michael Douglas is equally strong as the handsome rogue who does the right thing by Joan despite his self-preservationist instincts. It's also nice to see two leads who look great, but don't possess super-human, sculpted physiques.