''Captain Ron'' is a 1992 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Thom Eberhardt Thomas Everett "Thom" Eberhardt (born March 7, 1947) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Eberhardt has won two awards and two nominations. He is most noted for his work on '' Captain Ron'', '' Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'', an ...

, produced by David Permut, and written by John Dwyer for

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

. It stars

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The ...

as the title character, a sailor with a quirky personality and a checkered past, and

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

as an upper-middle class, suburban family man who hires him to sail a yacht through the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

with him and his family aboard. Mary Kay Place,

Meadow Sisto Meadow Sisto (born September 30, 1972, in Grass Valley, California) is an American actress mostly known for playing Caroline in the 1992 film ''Captain Ron''. Sisto is the daughter of Dick Sisto, a jazz vibist and Reedy Gibbs, an actress. Her you ...

, and

Benjamin Salisbury Benjamin David Salisbury (born October 19, 1980) is an American actor and dancer best known for playing the role of Brighton Sheffield on the CBS television sitcom ''The Nanny'' from 1993 to 1999. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 19 ...

also star as his wife and children.

Plot

Martin Harvey is a middle-aged office worker who lives in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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 yacht once owned by

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

, 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 yacht, ''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. 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 Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 2 ...

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 Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

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 The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

, 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 wealthy couple and their small motorboat. Notably he is no longer wearing an eye patch.

Cast

as Captain Ron Rico *

as Martin Harvey * Mary Kay Place as Katherine Harvey *

as Caroline Harvey *

as Ben Harvey * Sunshine Logroño as General Armando (as Emannuel Logrono) * Jorge Luis Ramos as General Armando's Translator * J.A. Preston as Magistrate * Tanya Soler as Angeline * Raúl Estela as Roscoe * Jainardo Batista as Mamba *

Dan Butler Daniel Eugene Butler (born December 2, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series '' Frasier'' (1993–2004); Art in ''Roseanne'' (1991–1992); for the voice of Mr. Simmons on the ''Nickelodeon'' T ...

as Bill Zachery * Tom McGowan as Bill * Roselyn Sanchez as Clarisse * Paul Anka as Donaldson, Yacht Broker * Shanti Kahn as Patti, Donaldson's Secretary * Katherine Calzada as Barbara * John Scott Clough as Garth * Marty Eli Schwartz as Supervisor * Craig Rondell as Caroline's Fiance * C.M. Talkington (credited as Clement Talkington) as the Bicycle Messenger

Reception

Box office

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

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, while others felt that Russell's fun performance as the irresponsible and sometimes unsympathetic yacht captain carried it through its flaws. It has a score of 26% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10. It has long, however, found a niche among sailors, and given the dearth of nautical comedies, had a resurgence of interest in the film during the mid-2010s. Salisbury and Sisto were each nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

References

External links

* * * {{Thom Eberhardt 1992 films 1992 comedy films 1990s American films 1990s English-language films American comedy films Films directed by Thom Eberhardt Films scored by Nicholas Pike Films set in the Caribbean Films set in Chicago Films set in Cuba Films set in Miami Films set in Puerto Rico Films shot in Chicago Sailing films Touchstone Pictures films