The story was rather straightforward. A famous romance novelist named Joan Wilder (played by Kathleen Turner) discovers an ancient map in her mail that was sent to her by her sister in Columbia. A local bad man in Columbia, named Ira, kidnaps her sister. Ira calls Joan and demands that she bring the map to Columbia or he will kill her sister. Joan hitches a ride on the next flight to Columbia, only to be deceived at the Columbian airport by Ira's rival and evil nemesis, Zolo, who "kindly" leads her to the wrong bus. Ira's brother Ralph (played by Danny Devito) sees the whole thing and begins chasing after her. Joan realizes she has taken the wrong bus when she awakes to find the bus in the middle of the jungle. The bus collides with a jeep and she finds herself stranded on the side of the road. Zolo pulls a gun on her and demands the map, but luckily a local rough and ready American named Jack T. Colton (played by Michael Douglas) arrives to find his jeep totaled and fights Zolo off. The adventure begins as Joan and Jack team up to find the mysterious treasure at the end of the map and rescue Joan's sister before Zolo can catch them.