The moral of this comic adventure could be: If you're stuck with riff raff, stick with 'em. Twice the main character strays from helpful underdogs and winds up in deeper trouble. But none of the danger lasts very long... although there's a whole lotta tension for John Cusack's Dan Bartlett, a frazzled college student who's supposed to travel to the Caribbean with his rich girlfriend's family before failing an important chemistry test.
Cusack, fresh from feel-good classics like BETTER OFF DEAD, ONE CRAZY SUMMER and THE SURE THING, strays from his usual ever-likable persona as a jerk with a chip on his shoulder and has little patience for his girlfriend - or anyone else for that matter...
But after getting a reprieve from his professor, he rushes to join his girl at the airport - and just misses her. He travels to the Caribbean and reluctantly teams up with a group of Rastafarians (including Keith David) and eventually boards the dilapidated vessel of endearing modern day pirate Robert Loggia.
Dan's always a step away from reaching his seemingly impossible goal and in one overlong scene, where he and Loggia weather a formidable storm, the film turns from brat pack to Jack London...
Directed by TRON creator Steve Lisberger, this isn't a very funny picture but will keep your interest: There's something new around every turn and once the villains are revealed - a father/son teaming of Jerry and the not-yet-famous Ben Stiller who kidnapped Dan's future in-laws aboard a yacht - our shaggy hero morphs into the Cusack we know and love, becoming someone to actually root for.
Cusack, fresh from feel-good classics like BETTER OFF DEAD, ONE CRAZY SUMMER and THE SURE THING, strays from his usual ever-likable persona as a jerk with a chip on his shoulder and has little patience for his girlfriend - or anyone else for that matter...
But after getting a reprieve from his professor, he rushes to join his girl at the airport - and just misses her. He travels to the Caribbean and reluctantly teams up with a group of Rastafarians (including Keith David) and eventually boards the dilapidated vessel of endearing modern day pirate Robert Loggia.
Dan's always a step away from reaching his seemingly impossible goal and in one overlong scene, where he and Loggia weather a formidable storm, the film turns from brat pack to Jack London...
Directed by TRON creator Steve Lisberger, this isn't a very funny picture but will keep your interest: There's something new around every turn and once the villains are revealed - a father/son teaming of Jerry and the not-yet-famous Ben Stiller who kidnapped Dan's future in-laws aboard a yacht - our shaggy hero morphs into the Cusack we know and love, becoming someone to actually root for.