Joan Wilder je uspešna pisateljica ljubezensko pustolovskih romanov. Nekega dne izve, da so ji v Kolumbiji ugrabili sestro. Ugrabitelji, med njimi je tudi Danny De Vito, zahtevajo zemljevid, ki jih bo pripeljal do skritega zaklada. Joan nemudoma odpotuje v neznano divjino, kjer nanjo prežijo številne nevarnosti. Na pomoč ji prihiti neustrašni Jack Colton in skupaj se odpravita na lov za zelenim diamantom.
Joan Wilder, a mousy romance novelist, receives a treasure map in the mail from her recently murdered brother-in-law. Meanwhile, her sister Elaine is kidnapped in Colombia and the two criminals responsible demand that she travel to Colombia to exchange the map for her sister. Joan does, and quickly becomes lost in the jungle after being waylayed by Zolo, a vicious and corrupt Colombian cop who will stop at nothing to obtain the map. There, she meets an irreverent soldier-of-fortune named Jack Colton who agrees to bring her back to civilization. Together, they embark upon an adventure that could be straight out of Joan's novels.