The Jewel of the Nile
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The Jewel of the Nile is the name of the 1985 film that picks up where the 1984 film Romancing the Stone ended and sends the heroes of that film off on a new adventure in a fictional Middle Eastern desert in an effort to find the lost "Jewel of the Nile." The film is about 115 minutes in length, rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America and is available on DVD.
Story
As the film begins Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is having trouble writing her next romantic novel while living on a boat with Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) who refuses to discuss marriage. At a book signing engagement she meets a charming Arab ruler named Omar (Spiros Focas) that has managed to persuade the world that he is a firm, but fair, ruler of a fictional Middle Eastern nation. Omar offers Joan the opportunity to live like a queen at his palace, while she writes a fluff piece about him. However, as soon as Joan leaves with Omar, Jack's boat is blown up (on the orders of Omar) and he runs into Ralph (Danny DeVito) who having gotten out of prison plans on killing Jack, but eventually agrees to team up with him in order to track down the lost jewel in Omar's kingdom.
In the fabled kingdom, Joan discovers that Omar is a brutal dictator, that imprisons her until she agrees to finish the fluff piece that will introduce him to the world as an enlightened ruler that will unite the Arab world. In the palace jail she meets a holy man, Al-Julhara, (Avner Eisenberg), who is in fact the Jewel of the Nile. The pair escape the palace, and with the help of Jack are able to flee Omar's army into the desert. Ralph, who provides much of the film's comic relief, is left to fend for himself in the desert and thus joins with a rebel tribe that has sworn to protect the jewel see that he fulfills his destiny.
After a battle with a mountain African tribe, Joan breaks the news to Jack, that the Jewel is in fact person who is the real leader of the Arab people. Omar plans on using a British rock & roll technician's smoke and mirrors special effects at an upcoming festival, planned by Omar, to convince the Arab world that he is in fact a prophet that will unite the Arab world under his rule. Jack, Joan and the Holy Man decide to crash the festival and unmask Omar as the fraud that he is. Once Omar is killed, the Holy Man rises as the real spiritual leader and the film ends with Jack and Joan finally getting married.
Critics
The film was not as successful as its predecessor and helped to effectively kill the franchise, although it had been said that both Turner and Douglas only made this film because they were under contract to do so. Critics felt was loaded with numerous plot holes and that it lacked the first film's original charm.
- Why would Omar want to kill Jack, but keep the Jewel alive and what were his military plans?
- Did Omar really plan on letting Joan return home after she wrote the positive article about him?
- It appears that the film takes place in some sort of fictional Middle Eastern country, but the people do not appear to be Muslim, and the Jewel seems too liberal to be a cleric following Sharia law.
- Killing the Jewel would have undermined Omar's regime to a large extent so making the Jewel "dissappear" descreetly rather than a public execution would have been a much sounder approach. Furthermore, the ability to "use" the Jewel for his own ends should not be ruled out. The assumption of military plans is again created by Omar's image as a powerful dictator, propped up by a junta, but there is no indication of plans of pursuing regional conquest. In such states, leaders must appear to be strong, especially if economically they are weak, illustrated by Iran's recent quest for nuclear technology. It is much more likely that Omar sought internal stability rather than pursuing territorial gains through his military.
- The likelihood is that Omar would have let Joan return, especially since he wanted her aid in what was essentially propoganda. To imprison, or worse, execute, a prominent American author would not only cause international condemnation but also undermine the very article that Omar hoped would improve his image to the world.
- Not all Middle-Eastern countries are Muslim and the film is a broad generalisation of the region rather than a specific study of a particular country. Additionally, the assumption that every Middle Eastern cleric is a conservative, non-secular preacher is again unfounded. Perhaps the real power of the Jewel, and the faith that such a large following has in him, is his ability to combine the old ways with the new, embracing Western liberal doctrine yet at the same time maintaining the values of their traditional way of life.
Trivia
- As with the first film, the novelization of the sequel was credited to Joan Wilder.
- Although not a critcal success the The Jewel of the Nile is held as being more of a cult classic than it's predecessor.
- Omar's archetypal character was loosely based on Saddam Hussein, the image especially in the desert of the bereted leader with moustarche and Aviator sunglasses, echoing many of the images of Hussein in American media.
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