Captain Ron

Last updated
Captain Ron
Captain ron poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Thom Eberhardt
Screenplay byJohn Dwyer
Thom Eberhardt
Story byJohn Dwyer
Produced by David Permut
Starring
Cinematography Daryn Okada
Edited by Tina Hirsch
Music by Nicholas Pike
Production
companies
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • September 18, 1992 (1992-09-18)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$24 million
Box office$22,518,097

Captain Ron is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt, produced by David Permut, and co-written by John Dwyer and Thom Eberhardt for Touchstone Pictures. [1] It stars Kurt Russell as the eponymous sailor with a quirky personality and a checkered past, alongside Martin Short and Mary Kay Place who hire him to sail a yacht through the Caribbean. The film earned negative reviews and was a box-office disappointment.

Contents

Plot

Martin Harvey is a middle-aged office worker who lives in Chicago with his wife, Katherine, 16-year-old daughter, Caroline, and 11-year-old son, Ben. When he learns his recently deceased uncle has bequeathed him a 60-foot sailboat once owned by Clark Gable, he decides to take his family to the island of St. Pomme de Terre ("Saint Potato") to retrieve it so he can sell it. Katherine resists the idea, but agrees after Caroline announces she has just become engaged.

When the Harveys arrive at the island, they discover that the boat, Wanderer, is in terrible condition. Upon hearing this, the yacht broker cancels his plan to send an experienced captain to help them sail it to Miami, and instead hires a local sailor, Captain Ron Rico, a one-eyed man with a very laid back attitude, and Navy veteran who claims to have piloted USS Saratoga. He launches immediately when he sees the car he arrived in roll off the dock and sink and its owner arrives at the dock and shoots at him.

Captain Ron takes Ben's money in a game of Monopoly, giving him beer to drink and charging him for it later, but shows loyalty to Martin, who he refers to as "Boss". Martin, who doesn't like him, calls him "Moron" in his diary, and believes that he doesn't know what he's doing.

The Harveys decide to stop off in the Caribbean, but learn that Captain Ron doesn't know how to navigate. While on a random island, Martin decides to go on a nature hike, but runs into guerrillas led by General Armando. Captain Ron bargains for Martin's freedom by giving them a lift to the next island, and receiving some firearms in return to fight off pirates. This angers Martin, as he declares there will be no firearms on his yacht and tosses them overboard, before realizing that without them, he is going to have to give the guerrillas a lift.

In the yacht's cabin, Katherine shows Martin the initials of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard marked on the bedpost. They are so excited that they share their feelings and have passionate sex.

When they arrive at their next destination, at a non-USA "San Juan", Martin and Katherine are arrested for smuggling the guerrillas. Caroline and Ben party with the locals and Captain Ron, which ends with Caroline getting a tattoo, Ben breaking his glasses, and Captain Ron losing his glass eye. Martin and Katherine are released from jail, but forced to leave that night. Martin decides to leave Captain Ron behind and they encounter pirates who steal the yacht, and are stuck floating in a raft.

They land in Cuba and discover the yacht there. The pirates find them, but with the help of Captain Ron, they are able to escape with the yacht. Captain Ron learns that they underrate Martin, and he decides to play hurt, forcing Martin to take control of the escape. Using the skills that Captain Ron taught them, they are able to get the sails up after the engine breaks from lack of oil to distance themselves from the pirates. The United States Coast Guard, responding to a distress call from Ron, arrives and stops the pirates, creating a safe passage to Miami.

They arrive in Miami and part ways with Captain Ron. As they sail to their destination, they decide to turn the yacht around and keep it. In the final scene, Captain Ron appears to have cleaned up his appearance and has quickly taken on a new role as a captain for a young couple and their small motorboat. Notably he is no longer wearing an eye patch.

Cast

Production

The film was originally conceived as an ad-man-seeking-status story but was rewritten as a family-inherits-sailboat-and-seeks-adventure-in-the-Caribbean story upon Walt Disney Studios getting involved. Initially, Kurt Russell and Martin Short were cast in each other's roles before choosing to swap. Additionally, Chevy Chase was considered for the titular role before Short was cast. [2]

The film was retitled twice before release. First it was titled Don't Rock the Boat, and then it was retitled On the Wanderer, before it was released as Captain Ron. [3] [4]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $22.5 million, against its budget of $24 million. [5]

Critical response

The film premiered on September 18, 1992 to negative reviews from critics. It was panned for putting Russell in the comedic role and Short in the serious one, [6] [7] while others felt that Russell's fun performance as the irresponsible and sometimes unsympathetic yacht captain carried it through its flaws. [8] [9] It has a score of 26% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10. [10] It has long, however, found a niche among sailors, [11] and given the dearth of nautical comedies, had a resurgence of interest in the film during the mid-2010s. [12] In 2016, Tammy Kennon of USA Today referred to the film as a "sailing cult classic" and suggested that the film might contain "the most widely celebrated ketch in pop culture". [13]

Salisbury and Sisto were each nominated for a Young Artist Award.

Noah Segan has cited the character of Captain Ron as an inspiration for his performance as Derol in the film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dead Calm</i> (film) 1989 film by Phillip Noyce

Dead Calm is a 1989 Australian psychological thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce, produced by George Miller, and starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. The screenplay by Terry Hayes was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams.

<i>Mr. Mom</i> 1983 American film directed by Stan Dragoti

Mr. Mom is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti and produced by Lynn Loring, Lauren Shuler, and Aaron Spelling. It stars Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Ann Jillian, and Christopher Lloyd. It tells the story of a furloughed Detroit automotive engineer who becomes a stay-at-home dad and takes care of three young children, as his wife returns to a career in the advertising industry as an executive at a large agency. Released on July 22, 1983, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $64 million against its $5 million budget.

<i>Overboard</i> (1987 film) 1987 film by Garry Marshall

Overboard is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, written by Leslie Dixon, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, and produced by Roddy McDowall, who also co-stars alongside Edward Herrmann and Katherine Helmond. The film follows a demeaning, wealthy socialite who suffers from amnesia after falling from her yacht while vacationing on the Oregon Coast, only to be taken in by a working-class carpenter whom she had mistreated.

<i>Death Watch</i> 1980 film

Death Watch is a 1980 science fiction film directed by Bertrand Tavernier. It is based on the 1973 novel The Unsleeping Eye by David G. Compton. The film was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival. The film had 1,013,842 admissions in France and was the 35th most attended film of the year.

<i>Robinson Crusoe</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Rod Hardy and George T. Miller

Robinson Crusoe is a 1997 American adventure survival drama film directed by Rod Hardy and George T. Miller, and starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role, based on Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe.

<i>Wind</i> (1992 film) 1992 American film by Carroll Ballard

Wind is a 1992 film directed by Carroll Ballard and starring Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey and Cliff Robertson.

<i>The Pirates Who Dont Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie</i> 2008 American film

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2008 American animated family adventure comedy film directed by Mike Nawrocki, written by Phil Vischer, produced by Big Idea and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the second of the two theatrical films to feature characters from the VeggieTales video series following Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie in 2002, and is the only VeggieTales media that does not explicitly mention God or Biblical morals. However, several scenes parallel Scripture, such as characters not knowing when the King will return.

<i>Jumping Ship</i> American TV series or program

Jumping Ship is a 2001 American adventure comedy-drama film and the sequel to the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie, Horse Sense. It stars brothers Joseph, Matthew, and Andrew Lawrence. The film was directed by Michael Lange, and was shot in Australia.

<i>Texas Rangers</i> (film) 2001 film directed by Steve Miner

Texas Rangers is a 2001 American action Western film directed by Steve Miner and starring James Van Der Beek, Ashton Kutcher, Alfred Molina, and Dylan McDermott. It follows a group of Texas Rangers in the post-American Civil War era. The film is very loosely based upon the book Taming the Nueces Strip by George Durham, who based it on his own experiences serving in Captain Leander McNelly's Texas Ranger group as a young man. The film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1934 film) 1934 film

Treasure Island is a 1934 film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, and Nigel Bruce. It is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous 1883 novel of the same name. Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and lives.

<i>Mysterious Island</i> (2005 film) 2005 American TV series or program

Mysterious Island is a 2005 television film made for Hallmark Channel that is very loosely based on Jules Verne's 1875 novel of the same name. It was filmed in Thailand and directed by Russell Mulcahy.

<i>Hot Pursuit</i> (1987 film) 1987 film by Steven Lisberger

Hot Pursuit is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by Steven Lisberger, written by Lisberger and Steven Carabatsos, and starring John Cusack, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazelle, Jerry Stiller and Ben Stiller.

<i>The Black Swan</i> (film) 1942 film by Henry King

The Black Swan is a 1942 American swashbuckler Technicolor film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. It was based on the 1932 novel of the same title by Rafael Sabatini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bones</span> Fictional character in the 1883 novel Treasure Island

Billy Bones is a fictional character appearing in the first section of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island.

<i>St Trinians 2: The Legend of Frittons Gold</i> 2009 British film

St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold is a 2009 British adventure comedy film directed by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, both of whom directed the previous film in the series. It is the seventh in a long running series of films based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle, and the second film produced since the franchise was rebooted in 2007.

<i>Blame It on the Bellboy</i> 1992 film by Mark Herman

Blame It on the Bellboy is a 1992 comedy film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown, Patsy Kensit, Richard Griffiths, and Bronson Pinchot. The plot is about a case of mistaken identity of three individuals with similar-sounding surnames staying at the same hotel.

<i>The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!</i> 2012 film by Peter Lord

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is a 2012 animated swashbuckler comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Aardman Animations, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The second and final collaborative project between Sony and Aardman, it is Aardman's first book-based movie as well as their first stop-motion feature film since Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), and Sony Pictures Entertainment's first stop-motion film. The film was directed by Peter Lord, co-directed by Jeff Newitt, and written by Gideon Defoe, based on Defoe's 2004 novel The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. The film stars the voices of Hugh Grant, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, Salma Hayek, and Jeremy Piven, and follows a crew of amateur pirates in their attempt to win the Pirate of the Year competition.

<i>In the Heart of the Sea</i> (film) 2015 film by Ron Howard

In the Heart of the Sea is a 2015 historical adventure drama film directed and co-produced by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Charles Leavitt and a story by Leavitt, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver. An international co-production between the United States and Spain, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson. It is based on Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 non-fiction book In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, an event that in part inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

<i>Styx</i> (film) 2018 film

Styx is a 2018 German-Austrian drama film directed by Wolfgang Fischer. It was screened in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Harpoon</i> (2019 film) 2019 Canadian film directed and written by Rob Grant

Harpoon is a 2019 Canadian horror comedy film written and directed by Rob Grant. The film stars Munro Chambers, Emily Tyra, and Christopher Gray, and is about three best friends who become stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean. It premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival on January 24, 2019, and played at several film festivals, including the Calgary Underground Film Festival, where it won the audience award. It was theatrically released on October 4, 2019.

References

  1. ↑ Canby, Vincent (September 18, 1992). "Review/Film; The Skipper Runs More Than a Boat". The New York Times .
  2. ↑ The Original ‘Captain Ron’ Piloted a Power Cruiser
  3. ↑ Walsh, Michael (September 18, 1992). "Husbands and Wives 'bad TV': Purloined picture painful: [1* Edition]". The Province . pp. C4.
  4. ↑ Wilner, Norman (September 18, 1992). "Short rides leaky boat onto sandbar: [AM Edition]". Toronto Star . pp. C11.
  5. ↑ "Captain Ron (1992)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  6. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1992). Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide . Signet. ISBN   9780451170682.
  7. ↑ Kempley, Rita (September 21, 1992). "Captain Ron". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Rugaard, Jason (July 26, 1992). "Captain Ron (1992) – Review". Movie Mavericks. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ Andresen, Joshua (September 22, 1992). "Weather Report's Joe Zawinul forms diverse new band". The Tech . Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Captain Ron (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ Swanson, Peter (September 29, 2015). "Captain Ron Revisited". Sail. Cruz Bay Publishing . Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  12. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (November 22, 2016). "Does Captain Ron Deserve Cult Status?". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  13. ↑ Kennon, Tammy. "Dream Boats: Fetching ketches for sale". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  14. ↑ Guerrasio, Jason. "'Glass Onion' star Noah Segan shares Easter eggs, a deleted scene, and the yacht-rock song that inspired his scene-stealing stoner Derol". Insider. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  15. ↑ Segan, Noah (January 5, 2023). "@kidblue". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.