The Jewel of the Nile

"The Jewel of the Nile" is at something of a disadvantage. Jack T. Coltan and Joan Wilder were total strangers the first time we encountered the characters and this provided a lot of scope for development, but that isn't the case here so what screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner have produced instead is purely an action film which works perfectly well on all levels. The action scenes are moderately exciting and there is a highly entertaining opening where we are once again invited into one of Joan Wilder's stories, but this time around the film is only as watchable as it proves to be because of the enthusiastic participation of Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. They are the winning combination that keeps you watching and they are the ones to provide all the action and the romance and the laughs simply because Diane Thomas is no longer with us any more to do it.