Capitán Ron

Although there had been hints of it before with Kurt Russell, in Captain Ron he breaks out with a full blown comedy. In the title role Russell creates a character, a raffish sort to rival Cary Grant in Father Goose and Charles Laughton in The Beachcomber. Not to mention Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou, John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn and the best of all Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen.

Martin Short and his wife Mary Kay Place inherit a yacht that was once owned by Clark Gable and I'm sure if the boat could talk it could tell some fabulous tales. It's in dry dock in The Bahamas and in need of repair to put it mildly. But fix it and flip it as they say in today's world and get someone to pilot it to Florida.

Who Short and Place get is Kurt Russell the legendary Captain Ron who's seen and done all. At least according to him and the tales get taller as Russell imbibes. But he sure has Place enchanted their daughter Meadow Sisto is a believer and he's really got their young son Benjamin Salisbury ready to go to far away places with him.

I won't go into it, but the castaways on Gilligan's Island never faced anything like what Kurt Russell puts Short and his family through in their '3 hour tour'. I'm sure Clark Gable and Carole Lombard and anyone else whoever sailed on this craft never had a saga like Short, Place and their kids have.

Everyone performs well and I have to say Martin Short must have been a great sport about essentially being Kurt Russell's straight man. As for Russell you can see what attracted him to the part, a chance to have a seven course meal on the scenery and not be criticized for it as the role calls for it. It's an actor's dream.

Kurt Russell is having fun and the fun is infectious for the viewer.

Between the sex-charged thriller UNLAWFUL ENTRY, and the Western classic, TOMBSTONE, Kurt Russell kicked back and had some fun, playing one-eyed reprobate Captain Ron Rico, in Thom Eberhardt's easy-going comedy, CAPTAIN RON. The tale of a Chicago family's sea-faring odyssey, moving an inherited sailboat (once owned by Clark Gable) from a tiny Caribbean port to Miami for sale, CAPTAIN RON never gets the big laughs you'd expect from a movie co-starring Martin Short, but is entertaining, with Russell again proving he is as adept at comedy as in action or dramatic roles.

Co-starring the wonderful Mary Kay Place as Short's practical but supportive wife, and Meadow Sisto and Benjamin Salisbury as their scheming children, the story would be a routine 'by-the-numbers' sea comedy, if not for Russell's larger-than-life presence. As the sailor hired to take the boat and family to Miami, Captain Ron is wild, occasionally inept, and the kind of seaman you wouldn't trust a rowboat to, much less a broken-down yacht! "If we get lost," he tells a nervous Short, "we'll just pull into an island and ask directions." Whether he's rescuing Short and Place from a flooding shower stall ("Your folks were playing 'Hide the Salami' in the shower", he calmly explains to their young son, who promptly falls out of his chair), or warning the family to keep an eye out for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ("So you've been to Disney World," Short quips...before pirates indeed attack the ship), Russell's 'Ron' is a comic gem, commanding the screen each time he appears.

While CAPTAIN RON will never make anyone's list of 'Best Comedies', it is a pleasant diversion, and if you're a Kurt Russell fan, you won't be disappointed!

Kurt Russell is one of those actors that can play a variety of roles, & get away with it. Action, drama, & comedy. He must of been thinking of Jack Burton from 'Big Trouble In Little China' & but some of that into this movie. 'Captain Ron' is a great movie! The plot is simple, & so is the movie. That is what make sit so much fun. Yes, most of the movie is translucent, but it works so well. Kurt Russell shines as Capt. Ron Rico, who has been hired by the Harvey family to be the drive their boat from a Carribean Island to Miami, FL. While he bumbles from one scene to the other, Capt. Ron manages to be successful in the end. All of this makes Martin Harvey(Martin Short) furious, while his family loves Capt. Ron. Lots of laughs.

Ignore all the stuffed shirt, up-tight pinheads who couldn't loosen up if a gun was held to their collective heads. Treat this movie as it should be...FUN! This is the film that keeps us going through the winter until sailing season...then we take the video along on board.

Martin Short and Kurt Russell are TERRIFIC together, and Mary Kay Place? Who'd have known what a versatile actress she is, after all, most of us only had Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to judge her by. The kids certainly do add a fine finishing touch to this hilarious crew.

This movie was not created to win an academy award, it was created to be lighthearted and fun and it far exceeded that goal.

Few people like this film as much as my family and I, but we never miss it when it comes on TV. Perhaps that's because we've sailed the Caribbean and can relate to the misadventures of the characters in the movie. It's a terrific family film.

Kurt Russell is hysterical as the one-eyed Captain Ron. Martin Short, for a change, plays the straight man. The rest of the cast are cute and funny.

By the end of the movie, I actually found myself nostalgic for the sense of freedom and fun that only Captain Ron can steer you towards. I gave this movie a 9; don't throw me overboard for that!

Hamilton Fisher