Romancing the Stone (1984)

	Also Known As: A la Poursuite du Diamant Vert (French)
	Year of first release: 1984
	Director: Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future 1-3, Flight)
	Actors: Michael Douglas (Wall Street, The Game, Ant-Man), Kathleen Turner (The Virgin Suicides), Danny DeVito (Twins, Batman Returns)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 06.03.2017, VOD, 32" TV screen.
Synopsis: The successful Romance/Adventure writer Joan Wilde lives a quiet lonely life awaiting for a Prince Charming. Abruptly she has to travel to Columbia to rescue her sister.
Review: I felt like watching an adventure movie probably after seeing the Documentary Raiders!, so for a change I chose this one over any Indiana Jones, remembering it under the French title A la Poursuite du Diamant Vert. The original title is a fairer warning of what you are going to watch: a Romance peppered with Adventure and Comedy, not like Indiana Jones which I find has a stronger Adventure core. It seems like the script was written in 1978 i.e. before the huge success of Spielberg's films, but undoubtedly its release was timed to surf on that wave. Director Robert Zemeckis knows what he is doing and delivers as expected some tropical forests, bad guys in jeeps, comedy moments with Danny DeVito, an atypical couple (played by the well-matched Douglas / Turner), a treasure hunt and an entertaining soundtrack by his usual composer Alan Silvestri. The treasure hunt and the pursuit by the bad guys are no more than McGuffins used to put the couple in situations that are going to bring them closer, then apart and then of course closer for the finale. Relatively pleasant to watch, but maybe only by nostalgia for the 80's. I have no memory of the sequel that was hurriedly produced the following year: The Jewel of the Nile (Le Diamant du Nil in French).
Rating: 6 /10