Cast: Michael Douglas, Kathleen
Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman, Alfonso Arau
Directed by Robert
Zemeckis
Joan Wilder, 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.
When Joan's sister is kidnapped, Joan must travel to Colombia to
give some baddies the map and free her sister. Unfortunately, the
corrupt local police are after the same map and when she 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,
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 searched for all her life?
It's a hard movie to dislike, despite a
good deal of cliches and hokey moments. The trio of Turner, Douglas
and DeVito makes the film watchable, and amazingly Zemeckis is able
to hold together the light tone of the film despite the murders and
violence that surrounds the heroes. It's too bad that screenwriter
Diane Thomas suffered an untimely death because she had a winner
here, this being 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
definitely is a worthy investment of your time and what it lacks in
freshness it more than makes up for in charm.
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