movie: Romancing the Stone
starring:Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner
genre: Adventure, Romance, Comedy
year:1984
format: Hollywood Suites Channel
plot: A romance writer learns her sister has been kidnapped, and must hand over a map left to her by her dead brother in law. Along the way, she not only finds herself followed by a drug lord, but a man who embodies all her books heroic traits.
It's been decades since I've seen this, and completely forgotten how funny it was. And also, how it's become the beacon of light for these romantic fish out of water stories. (Leap Year, The Holiday, Laws of Attraction) And of course, it does play out like one of those romance novels (ironically the later 1980's early 1990's follows it more than the novels that came before the movie)
Here you've got a heroine who doesn't at first see herself as such, in fact she's awkward, shy, and completely unprepared for what's she's been asked to do. She hits every misdirection a person can before being reluctantly saved by someone who's life she's just tossed into chaos. And our hero in this, is more than the typical anti-hero, he's practically the role model for the typical anti-hero. Not only does he rescue her from being shot, he removes the 4 inch heels from her shoes, so they can walk through 6 foot high plants. That's I believe the first time I've seen or read for that matter, the hero being smart enough to do that.
The scene where they are stranded on a crashed plane using a crop of marijuana for a fire, and the Douglas character leaning over for a mouthful of smoke had me laughing out loud.
I do have one little question about it all. From the look of the map they are following, it is suppose to be turn of the century (late 1890's-early 1900's) yet, the statue they dig up is from the 1950's-ish. Are we to believe someone else got there first and reburied it? or you know, ignore that little bit of continuity?
what did I learn? Romance can find you when you lest expect it, even in a mud puddle.
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