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Captain Ron
A breezy, sex-on-legs performance by Kurt Russell in the title role is the best thing about 1992's Captain Ron, a lavishly mounted comic adventure that starts off promisingly but eventually gets weighed down by an over complicated screenplay that gets silly and makes the final third of the film very tiresome.
Martin Short plays Martin Harvey, a Chicago businessman who inherits a broken down boat from his deceased uncle. Unfortunately, the boat is docked near a Caribbean Island and the only way for Harvey to get the boat back to Miami where he can sell it is to fly down to the Caribbean with his family where he has to hire an experienced boat navigator with questionable credentials named Captain Ron to sail the boat for them.
This film gets off to a strong start by establishing comic credentials immediately with the casting of Russell in the comic role and Short in an unaccustomed role for him as the straight man. The movie is very funny as we watch Captain Ron charm Martin's wife (Mary Kay Place) and his two kids, similar to the spell Bill Murray puts on Richard Dreyfuss' family in What About Bob?, but John Dwyer's screenplay gets away from him with the addition of some Latin American soldiers who become guests on the boat as well as some actual pirates who want to take the Harveys' boat from them. By the time the pirates show up, we begin checking our watches.
One refreshing thing I did find in the story is that when Captain Ron begins charming Martin's family, he doesn't concentrate his charms on Martin's horny teenager daughter but on Martin's wife, who seems blissfully unaware of what's going on. What happens between Captain Ron and the Harvey family was enough to make this story work, but so much happens that Captain Ron eventually gets temporarily shoved off the canvas and when he's not onscreen, the film comes to a screeching halt.
This film works as long as Kurt Russell remains center stage, completely investing in this slightly smarmy, but utterly charming character who actually has a conscience. Short works hard to be a convincing straight man and Mary Kay Place makes the most of the most significant role of her career as Martin's wife, but the screenwriter really lets this one get away from him.
A breezy, sex-on-legs performance by Kurt Russell in the title role is the best thing about 1992's Captain Ron, a lavishly mounted comic adventure that starts off promisingly but eventually gets weighed down by an over complicated screenplay that gets silly and makes the final third of the film very tiresome.
Martin Short plays Martin Harvey, a Chicago businessman who inherits a broken down boat from his deceased uncle. Unfortunately, the boat is docked near a Caribbean Island and the only way for Harvey to get the boat back to Miami where he can sell it is to fly down to the Caribbean with his family where he has to hire an experienced boat navigator with questionable credentials named Captain Ron to sail the boat for them.
This film gets off to a strong start by establishing comic credentials immediately with the casting of Russell in the comic role and Short in an unaccustomed role for him as the straight man. The movie is very funny as we watch Captain Ron charm Martin's wife (Mary Kay Place) and his two kids, similar to the spell Bill Murray puts on Richard Dreyfuss' family in What About Bob?, but John Dwyer's screenplay gets away from him with the addition of some Latin American soldiers who become guests on the boat as well as some actual pirates who want to take the Harveys' boat from them. By the time the pirates show up, we begin checking our watches.
One refreshing thing I did find in the story is that when Captain Ron begins charming Martin's family, he doesn't concentrate his charms on Martin's horny teenager daughter but on Martin's wife, who seems blissfully unaware of what's going on. What happens between Captain Ron and the Harvey family was enough to make this story work, but so much happens that Captain Ron eventually gets temporarily shoved off the canvas and when he's not onscreen, the film comes to a screeching halt.
This film works as long as Kurt Russell remains center stage, completely investing in this slightly smarmy, but utterly charming character who actually has a conscience. Short works hard to be a convincing straight man and Mary Kay Place makes the most of the most significant role of her career as Martin's wife, but the screenwriter really lets this one get away from him.