Kurt Russell lets out his goofy side in Captain Ron, which he made with Martin Short, and this makes for a wondrful pairing, and really lets Russell be silly and (mostly) charming.

Short plays Martin Harvey. He and his family, wife Katherine (Mary Kay Place), daughterCaroline (Meadow Sisto), and son Ben (Benjamin Salisbury) are off to the Caribbean to check out a yacht that has been left to them by Martin’s late uncle.

In a spur of spontaneous planning, Martin wants to have a Caribbean adventure and then sale the yacht up the coast before they sell it. They’ll need some help sailing the craft, and the Yacht brokerage firm they are dealing with send them a local of questionable morals, and undeniable charm… call him Captain Ron (Russell).

The family sets off on an adventure even as Martin slowly begins to realize he really doesn’t like Ron, who seems oblivious to Martin’s dislike. Ron likes sailing, women, beers and sees Russell in a pretty bad wig, and beach bum attire.

There are somee genuinely funny moments throughout the film, and no matter how much Martin dislikes Ron, the Captain always tries his best to make Martin look good in front of his family, even as he teaches them all about sailing.

There’s great gags with an eyepatch (very Snake Plisken), a glass eye, the difference between guerrillas and gorillas, tight showers, speedos and tattoos. All of it combines to be pretty entertaining, silly, but entertaining.

Short is great at the physical comedy, and the frustration that begins to build up throughout his time with Ron, while Russell is delighfully oblivious, in full beach bum mode, and is just there for a good time, if not a long time.

There are some fun needle drops, though I argue there could have been more, and the location work is exceptional. It’s a sun-drenched film, and tries to play into the island vibes as much as it can. And succeeds a portion of the time. It’s never as laid back as it could be, but that’s intentional because of the family stories going on.

I remember when this one hit video, VHS, when I was working in a video store. It didn’t appeal. I was in my 20s when I was trying to only watch ‘real’ movies. I waited decades, have let my appreciation for Russell grow. Couple that with Martin Short – who doesn’t love Marty? And you have a wonderful family comedy that still works.

This one was a lot of fun.