The Jewel of the Nile

In the sequel to 'Romancing the Stone', romance writer Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) and Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) are sailing their yacht in the south of France. Joan is frustrated with her writing and sick of their nomadic life after six months on the boat. Joan accepts Sheik Omar Kalifa's offer to go down the Nile and write his biography. Joan and Jack agree to go their separate ways. Ralph (Danny DeVito) seeks revenge against Jack for getting left in prison. They are met by Tarak who has just tried to assassinate Omar. He tells them that Omar is a ruthless dictator who has stolen the Jewel of the Nile. Omar blows up Jack's boat and Tarak warns him that Joan is in danger.

I love 'Romancing the Stone'. This sequel has lost the original's charm. It's stupider and less funny. The joy is mostly gone. Jack and Joan start off on a sour note and is mostly separated in the first half. There are flashes of the old chemistry for the couple. However, even that isn't enough to make this a good movie. It's a sad sequel to a great 80s movie.

A somewhat sketchy screenplay and unsteady direction sink "The Jewel of the Nile", the sequel to "Romancing the Stone". Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas are taking it easy on their yacht, but soon become a bit bored with their now simple lives. Turner gets an invitation from a suspicious sheik in the Middle East who has a dastardly plan up his sleeves. Danny DeVito is also along for the ride once again as everyone is searching for the seemingly unobtainable jewel. Likeable performances are the main attraction, but the film is a large step behind "Romancing the Stone". 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This is a worthy sequel to "Romancing the Stone", although not as polished, with the featured actors already a little stilted after the first outing. It is probably significant that the following 15 years have not yet seen a further addition to the series, despite the star quality and charisma of the two leads who do play comedy well together, both in this truncated series and in the blacker "War of the Roses". The film suffers from a disjointed plotting, which appears to serve only to link together both some admittedly fine action sequences (a ground-based escape in an F-16 fighter plane, among them) and also the interminable arguments and subsequent reconciliations between Douglas and Turner.

Whilst certainly not reaching the heights of style of the original film, "The Jewel of the Nile" nevertheless provides a good rounded slice of action/adventure/romance entertainment, with some witty one-liners for DeVito delivered in his own inimitable style and featuring an endearing cameo from Avner Eisenberg as the mystical `Jewel' of the film's title who delivers his religious and philosophical pronouncements in a curious combination of the spiritual world and western pop culture.

I have given this movie a 7/10 because, taken on its own merits, it is just a delightful movie to watch. It's funny, although the slapstick sometimes is a little over done; but good wins out over evil, and leaves you satisfied at its conclusion. It reminds me of the "On the Road" movies made by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour during the forties, but with better, if not sometimes outlandish, special effects and chases (e.g., the F-16 chase) and just as many, if not more, one liners.

However, the movie is more than just comedy. It pits secular evil against a spiritual goodness (the Jewel), albeit a spiritual goodness which on the surface seem naive and comic...but which, in reality, achieves its goals through that apparent naivty. That is a serious overtone which many of the previous comments on the movie seem to have overlooked. The Jewel does not perform miracles, but his presence and comic actions create an aura of the miraculous.

Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) has achieved her romantic dreams with Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) in this film's predecessor, Romancing the Stone. Or, wait, has she? The in-love twosome have been sailing around the world on Jack's boat, having many adventures. But, there is no ring on Joan's finger yet and she, as a successful romance novelist, is a bit bored with the life at sea. In addition, she has writer's block. Likewise, Jack has been taking Joan for granted. Therefore, when the two stop at an Arab port and Joan is charmed by a Middle East ruler, Omar, who wants her to write his autobiography, the lady writer says yes. Jack is not pleased. Then, too, Colton encounters an old nemesis, Ralph (Danny DeVito) who is interested in Jack helping him find a new treasure called "Jewel of the Nile". Soon, this awkward duo is trying to rescue Joan, who has actually been kidnapped by the evil Omar. Things go from bad to worse as Omar's cohorts blow up Jack's boat, with, thankfully, no one aboard. In desert country and being chased by bad dudes, Jack and Ralph decide to use a plane as a getaway vehicle and jet off, on the ground, across the Sahara. What fun! Can they rescue Joan and grab a treasure, too? This film doesn't have the charm of the first film, Romancing the Stone, as few sequels do. Nevertheless, it is cute, clever and funny, at times. The three stars, Turner, Douglas, and DeVito are a dynamite threesome while the unknown secondary cast is just fine. Yes, the scenery is lovely and does Turner and Douglas look young and attractive in their well-chosen costumes. With few offerings from Hollywood these days, in the romantic comedy genre, one has to "go back to the future" to find treasures, indeed.