Romancing the Stone (1984)
Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner), a best-selling writer of romance novels, has little romance in her own life. She dreams of a tall, dark and handsome man to rescue her and whisk her off her feet, much like the hero in her series of sexy adventure novels, though her waiting for her idealized man may be the reason why she is still single. When her sister is kidnapped, Joan must travel to Colombia to give some baddies a mysterious map she was sent by her recently butchered brother-in-law to free her. Unfortunately, the corrupt local police are after the same map and when Joan takes the wrong bus upon arrival, she soon finds herself on the run for her life. She comes across a local soldier of fortune named Jack Colton (Michael Douglas), who agrees to escort her to the nearest phone booth (for a price), but soon discovers the journey will be harder than they bargained for. Jack has the idea that they should follow the map to get to the treasure it points to, because it is the treasure and not the map that is the true bargaining chip. Could this be the adventure she has been searching for all her life?
The impetus for Michael Douglas’ involvement for Romancing the Stone came from his securing of a four-picture deal with Columbia Pictures, after the success of his production ventures in the late 1970’s with such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The China Syndrome (in which he also would co-star). One of his co-producers read the script from unknown scribe working as a waitress in Malibu at the time, Diane Thomas, for Romancing the Stone in 1979 (note: it was written before the world would ever know of Indiana Jones), and had Columbia buy it ASAP for a potential future vehicle for their company, at a hefty price (for its era) quarter of a million dollars. Columbia wanted a bankable star in the lead role, a la Clint Eastwood or Burt Reynolds, but Douglas couldn’t get any takers big enough to fund the budget, and Columbia was no longer interested in shelling out the money.
In the interim, Douglas’s star was also beginning to dim with a string of not-so-stellar efforts. Once his contract was done with Columbia Pictures, he was able to get 20th Century Fox to buy out the rights to the screenplay from them, which they were most interested in producing with the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Fox hired Spielberg collaborator Robert Zemeckis to direct the romantic adventure, hoping he could bring a similar box-office magic to the story idea. Next came the securing of a leading lady, with Debra Winger the most sought after, but she declined, as did Jessica Lange, who was determined to make the turn toward being thought of as a serious actress. Kathleen Turner wasn’t even on their list of names, but happened to be in the right place at the right time at Fox Studios, and was given a look. She made quite an impression and was cast, though the male lead was still up in the air. After the usual list of big-name male leads (including Sylvester Stallone, who would regret turning it down to make Rhinestone) turned down the role (most citing that the role was secondary to the female lead), Douglas decided to put himself as Jack Colton.
As the real Colombia was fraught with kidnappings and crime, production would soon be underway in Mexico, but the production was met with environmental issues, including heavy amounts of rain that extended the shoot beyond the deadline, though the film still would come in at a modest budget of just under $10 million, for which it would recoup many times over, racking up over $85 million in worldwide box office receipts. Injuries would also plague the lead actors, especially Kathleen Turner, who would reportedly end up suing the production company for a nasty scrape incurred on her leg during the mudslide scene that would requite plastic surgery to cover over. There was also mounting studio pressure to finish the film as early as possible so as to not have to compete with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom that same year in May, which they managed to do two months earlier, in March of 1984. Advertisements prior to release emphasized the film’s stunts, comedy and the appearance of Douglas and DeVito, opting to downplay the romance and Turner’s dominant role, even though, in the end, it is what many fans of the film enjoy the most.
Romancing the Stone is a hard movie to dislike, despite its embracing of traditional clichés and a share of hokey moments. The trio of Turner, Douglas and DeVito makes the film watchable, and, quite impressively, director Robert Zemeckis is able to hold together the light tone of the film despite the murders and violence that surrounds the heroes. For Zemeckis, who would ironically be fired from helming their Cocoon because the low test-screening scores had Fox sure this film would be a bomb at the box office (prompting a slew of re-shoots to make it better), it would prove to be his first big commercial hit, setting him up as a go-to talent for major Hollywood productions, especially the following year, when he would catapult to the forefront of big-name directors with Back to the Future. Romancing the Stone would never be the number-one movie at the box office at any point in its theatrical run, but it had great legs, staying in the top five for over two months, denied the top spot by the likes of films far more forgettable (Police Academy, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, and Breakin’), and would end up the number eight highest grossing film of 1984.
On the whole, it is a bit absurd, with Colton firing off seemingly unlimited rounds of ammunition, and the plot itself lacks any kind of sparkle, without much of the haunting elegance or suspense of Raiders of the Lost Ark to elevate the film into something more than a fun romp fueled by cast charisma and fun romantic repartee. Although Alan Silvestri, working on his first of many films with Zemeckis, has gone on to compose some wonderfully memorable scores, Romancing the Stone‘s synth-heavy noise is not one of them, and a far cry from the likes of John Williams for the distinguished competition for box-office fortune and award-winning glory. It did better for the actors, pushing Douglas and Turner to the forefront of leading actors, the kind they couldn’t get to appear in the film prior to its production, and Danny DeVito would make the successful jump after this from TV star to the most sought after comic character actor in Hollywood throughout the rest of the decade.
It’s a shame that screenwriter Diane Thomas suffered an untimely death, the victim of a fatal car accident in 1985 (she was a passenger in the very car given to her as a thank-you by Michael Douglas), because she had a successful first outing. Alas, this would be her first and only screenplay produced into a motion picture. Obviously, in comparison to the other obvious jungle adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark, this film suffers, but it is arguably a more consistent good time as that follow-up the same year, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. All in all, even with the formula plot, it definitely is a worthy investment of your time. What it lacks in freshness it more than makes up for in charm.
The stars would return the following year for the sole follow-up, Jewel of the Nile, though without the creative talents like Zemeckis and Thomas to drive it to the same critical success.
Qwipster’s rating: A-
MPAA Rated: PG for violence, some sensuality and language
Running Time: 106 min.
Cast: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman, Alfonso Arau
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay: Diane Thomas