wes-connors
Chicago businessman Martin Short (as Martin Harvey) has good news for his attractive blonde wife Mary Kay Place (as Katherine). They've inherited the sailboat once owned by legendary Hollywood actor Clark Gable. It could be worth a quarter million dollars. There's a catch, though. They have to pick up the boat and sail it to Paul Anka in Miami. In recent years, Mr. Anka is more commonly found in Las Vegas. However, Vegas has no good places to dock your yacht. The first sign of trouble is when we see the boat has become dilapidated. But it's just a visual joke, because the ship is seaworthy. Sporting perfect hair and a fun attitude, Mr. Short hires grungy one-eyed Kurt Russell (as Captain Ron) to man the vessel. He's got great hair, too, and colored briefs. Along for the ride are Short's wife and kids: pre-teen Benjamin Salisbury (as Benjamin "Ben" Harvey) and hot-to-trot teen-aged sister Meadow Sisto (as Caroline Harvey)...The funniest scene in this comedy is probably the one where Short and Ms. Place, interested in copulating, accidentally lock themselves in the shower. Director Thom Eberhardt gets a good laugh when Mr. Russell opens the door on the hapless couple. However, the scene is not as fun as it should have been. John Dwyer's script later mentions "I Love Lucy", which reminds us of "The Lucy Show" episode with Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance getting themselves stuck in the shower. With their clothes on, Lucy and Viv were funnier. The "Lucy" episode milked the comedy for all it was worth, but "Captain Ron" wastes the situation. Interesting, too, is how the scene is cross-cut with young Salisbury swigging beer. Somehow, a foul-mouthed 11-year-old beer drinker isn't funny. Finally, the fact that this is Clark Gable's boat is only briefly alluded to, later, when the initials C.G. and C.L. are found on board. Gable isn't funny, either.*** Captain Ron (1992-09-18) Thom Eberhardt ~ Kurt Russell, Martin Short, Mary Kay Place, Benjamin Salisbury
dworldeater
Captain Ron is a real cheesy, but fairly enjoyable family comedy. Martin Short inherits a yacht and convinces his family to accompany him to pick up his boat and to have a family vacation. The boat does not exactly live up to Martin Short's expectations and the agency interested in buying the boat hires local Captain Ron to lead the voyage across the Caribbean. Kurt Russell gives a great over the top performance as our beloved captain. He is a likable, crazy seaman who at times borders on inept, but still gets the job done. Martin Short's character is an uptight weenie, of which our hero Captain Ron drives crazy during the course of the film. This brings to mind Bill Murray classic What About Bob?, where Bill Murray drove Richard Dreyfuss nuts while simultaneously winning the favor of the rest of the family. There are occasional nods to Overboard as well. I am not trying to convince anyone that Captain Ron is of the same quality of the classic comedies I have just mentioned. However, Captain Ron is still fun to watch and there are many far worst movies out there.
d_m_s
Captain Ron deserves its low rating because it's a pretty rubbish film.I happened to watch it only because a couple of people had mentioned it as a guilty pleasure on the Once Bitten boards.The only thing I liked was Mary Kay Place's acting as she came across as very natural and comfortable in her own skin, making her easy to watch.Martin Short inherits a run down boat and takes a trip - I can't remember the destination. He hires Ron to captain the boat and various disasters ensure as Ron continually gets lost and the boat falls apart.Captain Ron is an antagonistic character that the father (Short) begins to despise but the rest of the family slowly come to love. It is very much What About Bob on a boat but far less convincing and much less entertaining.I fell asleep after about an hour and feel no need to finish the film.
lllama
Ignore the low voter rating on this movie. What do THEY know, anyway?When I first saw this movie in a video rental store, many, many years ago, I thought it looked like a stupid, obnoxious family/kiddie movie, and I didn't want to see it. Some time later my friends and I finally watched it for the first time. We thought, "well, kinda dumb, but several good laughs." Without planning to see it again, I did, anyway. We all laughed harder. Then, each time we saw it, we found more things to laugh about.Years later, having bought the DVD a few years back, we still watch it over and over again, and we can all quote large portions verbatim----and we still laugh and laugh.Kurt Russell, once again, demonstrates his versatility, proving that, not only is he a talented dramatic actor, but he's clever and funny, skilled in the art of humorous facial expressions, body language, and amusing delivery of his lines. Martin Short (funny, as always), Mary Kay Place, Meadow Sisto and Benjamin Salisbury are all well worth watching. (Yeah, I even remember the kids' names because I've seen it so many times. And they did a great job, too.)Don't jump to conclusions and miss this one. Go for it, and if you aren't thrilled the first time, watch it again. It is sooooo worth it! What a great movie! Who'd a thunk it?!
AD
