Captain Ron

Infobox Film
name = Captain Ron


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director = Thom Eberhardt
producer =
writer = John Dwyer
starring = Kurt Russell
Martin Short
Mary Kay Place
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Touchstone Pictures
released = September 18, 1992
runtime =
country =
awards =
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budget =
preceded_by =
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amg_id =
imdb_id = 0103924

"Captain Ron" is a 1992 film starring Martin Short and Kurt Russell. A family in Chicago inherits a yacht formerly owned by Clark Gable. They decide to sail it from the island of Ste. Pomme de Terre to Miami and hire a local, Captain Ron, to sail it for them. He guides them from island to island in the treacherous Caribbean, making friends with revolutionaries, partying with the locals, and running afoul of the dreaded "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Plot

Martin Harvey (Martin Short) is a middle aged man living in Chicago with his wife, Katherine (Mary Kay Place), and two children Ben (Benjamin Salisbury) and Caroline (Meadow Sisto). While at work, he receives a package explaining the death of their distant relative, who bought the yacht from the Clark Gable estate, and are going to inherit his yacht. He then decides to find out how much it is worth, and goes home to inform his wife. After some hesitation, they finally decide to take their kids and go down to the island of Ste. Pomme de Terre to see the boat, after they find out that their daughter has gotten engaged to her presumable boyfriend of the time.

When they arrive at the boat's destination, they discover the boat is in pretty bad shape. Upon hearing this, the man who offered to buy the yacht decides to meet them in Miami to check its condition, but unknowingly to the Harvey family, gets a local to be their guide and captain. Captain Ron (Kurt Russell) then pulls up a bit later to check out the condition of the yacht. To the surprise of the family, he is a one eyed dirty hippy looking man with a very laid back attitude. When Captain Ron discovers that the car he has borrowed has fallen off of the dock and into the ocean, he decides to set sail right then and there to escape from the man from whom he borrowed it.

As the story progresses, we learn that Captain Ron is very different than anything the family has ever experienced. He has no problem taking Ben's money in a game of Monopoly, giving him beers to drink (Ben is only 11 years old) and then charging him for them later, but shows a surprising loyalty to Martin, who he only refers to as "Boss". Martin, however, doesn't like Captain Ron, as it appears that he is getting strangely close to his family, and also believes that he doesn't know what he's doing. The other family members learn to love Captain Ron and his quirky life style.

While on their way to Miami, the family decides to make the most of it, and stop off at certains islands of the Caribbean, but learn that Captain Ron doesn't know how to navigate. While on a random island that they mistook for another place, Martin becomes infuriated with Captain Ron and decides to go back to the boat instead of staying with his family to make the most of it. Captain Ron warns him to stay on the path, because of "Gorillas", but despite this warning, the angered Martin strays from the path only to run into Guerrillas, the revolutionaries of the area (led by Sunshine Logroño). The witty Captain Ron eventually bargains for Martin's freedom by giving them a lift to the next island, and receiving some guns in return to fight off pirates. This only angers Martin more, as he declares there will be no firearms on his boat and tosses them overboard, before realizing that without them, he is indeed going to be forced to give the revolutionaries a ride.

When the family arrives at their next destination, Martin and Katherine are arrested for smuggling revolutionaries onto the island. The children, however, have a great time partying with the locals on the island which ends with Caroline getting a tattoo and Ben breaking his glasses. Martin and Katherine are released from jail, but are forced to leave the island that night. Martin decides to leave Captain Ron behind and go on without him. Not soon after, they encounter pirates, have their boat stolen, and are stuck floating in the ocean on a raft. After some drifting, they land on the island of Cuba and discover that their boat is there. The pirates discover them, but with the surprising help of Captain Ron, they are able to escape with their boat. Ron learns that the family underrates Martin and decides to play hurt, forcing Martin to take control in the escape of the pirates. Using the skills that Captain Ron taught the family, they are able to get their sails up after their engine breaks from lack of oil to better the distance between them and the pirates. In the end, the United States Coast Guard fires once at the pirates, scaring them away and creating a safe passage to Miami for the family.

They arrive in Miami and part ways with Captain Ron. As they sail to their destination, they decide to turn the boat around and keep it, and perhaps continue living in the Caribbean. Before the movie ends, we see a couple in another boat who envy the Harvey Family as they see them sail off; but, to our surprise, Captain Ron, now cleaned up with his hair pulled back and wearing a suit pops up and says they should take the boat out for a spin, thus continuing his "legacy".

Cult Following

In the years subsequent to its release, Captain Ron has gained a large cult following due to its many quotable lines and strong comedic performance by Kurt Russell.

The film frequently places high in the Rotten Tomatoes "Ripe and Round" polling of great films. It was declared "easily the greatest film featuring Kurt Russell as a sailboat captain ever made" by influential Internet critic Jeff Vorndam.

Trivia

*It was Kurt Russell's idea to have Captain Ron wear an eye patch, as a tribute to his Snake Plissken character from "Escape from New York".

*The island of Ste. Pomme de Terre translates (from French) to Saint Potato.

*The boat used in this movie is a Formosa 51, although it appears modified to make it look like an all-wood boat. Three or four boats were used, one in the beginning of the movie when the boat is in horrible shape. One of the "good condition" boats ended up in Kemah, TX in the late 90s where it was available for day charters.
*The large ship that Captain Ron and his new customers are heading toward at the end of the movie is the MV Zenith, which at the time was with Celebrity Cruises

*Meadow Sisto's real-life brother is fellow actor Jeremy Sisto, of "Hideaway", "Clueless", and "Six Feet Under" fame.

*The following year, Benjamin Salisbury shot to fame as Brighton Sheffield on TV's "The Nanny."

Cast:

*Kurt Russell (Captain Ron)
*Martin Short (Martin Harvey)
*Mary Kay Place (Katherine Harvey)
*Benjamin Salisbury (Benjamin Harvey)
*Meadow Sisto (Caroline Harvey)
*Sunshine Logroño (General Armando) (as Emannuel Logrono)
*Jorge Luis Ramos (General's Translator)
*J.A. Preston (Magistrate)
*Tanya Soler (Angeline)
*Raúl Estela (Roscoe)
*Jainardo Batista (Mamba)
*Dan Butler (Bill Zachery)
*Tom McGowan (Bill)
*Katherine Franco (Sneezing Woman)
*C.M. Talkington (Bicycle Messenger) (as Clement Talkington)
*Craig Rondell (Caroline's Fiancé)
*Paul Anka (Donaldson)
*Shanti Kahn (Patti, Donaldson's Secretary)
*Marty Eli Schwartz (Supervisor)
*John Scott Clough (Garth)
*Katherine Calzada (Barbara)
*Diego de la Texera (Man with Rifle)
*Roselyn Sanchez (Clarise, Island Girl)
*Janine Okada (Wong's Waitress)
*Eliseo López (Old Cuban Man)
*Gustavo Cerezo (Handsome Guerrilla)
*Efrain 'Chico' Rosario (Guerrilla)
*José Ciro (Guerrilla)
*Silvestre Ramos González (Guerrilla)
*Antonio Valdés Lazo (Guerrilla)
*José Ángel Ortiz (Guerrilla)
*Gustavo Rodríguez (Guerrilla)
*Víctor Emilio Rodríguez (Guerrilla)
*Ralph Arrieta (Dutch Dude)
*James Dudley (Dutch Dude)
*David Canal (Pirate)
*Edwin Delgado (Pirate)
*Carlos Miranda (Pirate)
*Gil Baldiris (Pirate)
*Rolando D'Lugo (Island Local) (uncredited)
*Víctor Arrillaga (Island Local) (uncredited; this was Arrillaga's last role)

External links

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