Mosquito Coast

Some of the other reviews summarize this pretty well. The Mosquito Coast details flawlessly the grotesque decomposition of a good and true man. Harrison Ford's Allie is driven insane by his own intelligence and inability to control his ego. Even more remarkable and disquieting is the fact that this is based on a true story. In some ways, Allie reminds me of Dr. Mobius from Forbidden Planet. But the demons Allie conjures up are far more grotesque and deadly than anything from even Mobius' warped imagination. I conclude that this is a true piece of art and science -- magnificently crafted from beginning to end -- and I will NEVER voluntarily watch it again.

Who hasn't wondered, considered, or fantasized about leaving this whole rat race beyond and go off somewhere remote to just do your own thing? I know I have and sometimes still do. Well, the main character here, play by Ford, does just that, and he brings his entire family along with him. Despite his good intentions they are all met with considerable obstacles and challenges throughout. There were times that I felt for his character, but even more so for his wife and kids being reluctantly pulled and pushed along on his obsession. There are definitely some issues with this film, one being a lack of clarity in its message, but I still think it is worth checking out.

Frothing at the mouth with disgust for his homeland America, inventor Allie Fox (Harrison Ford), with family in tow, pulls up roots, and moves to Central America. Here, he proceeds to build a new life in the jungle, using his mechanical skills, his inventiveness, and in particular his patented machine, which produces ice, sans electricity. "Ice is civilization", he proclaims with unctuous authority. That will be the foundation for his utopian dream. But Allie is so headstrong, so convinced of his infallibility that his vision blinds him to reality. And the film's ending is poignant.

Delusion and self-deception breed nightmarish outcomes. And the cinema, through the years, has dramatized these themes quite well, in films like "Aguirre: The Wrath Of God", "Fitzcaraldo", and "Deliverance". In real life, delusion and self-deception were the basis for the events surrounding American preacher Jim Jones who, in the late 1970s, relocated his naive flock to the jungles of Guyana, whereupon he established Jonestown, envisioned as a religious utopia. The result was tragic.

Beyond the deep themes thus expressed in the script, "The Mosquito Coast" looks good visually. The tropical scenery is spectacular. Production design and cinematography are terrific. And the film's score, by Maurice Jarre, is wonderfully exotic and majestic.

My only complaint is the character of Allie Fox, who at some point badmouths just about everyone and everything. I could have wished for a quieter, less loquacious, madman. Then too, Harrison Ford plays Fox in a way that overrides subtext. In short, Fox not only is delusional and self-deceptive, he's also preachy, domineering, and totally lacking in compassion for others, someone whom we as viewers cannot root for or have any empathy with.

"The Mosquito Coast" reminds us that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Chasing that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is for dreamers. This is a good film to watch when you're facing a pile of problems. You could be like Allie's family, trying to forge some existence in the jungles and listening to the rants of an icy madman.

The Mosquito Coast is a movie that has many things going for it, but fails to combine all its excellent ingredients in a way that makes it feel great. I think there's still a good deal to like, but overall, it feels a bit unsatisfying and disappointing.

You have an interesting premise, with a deranged father leading his family to live in the wilderness. You have Harrison Ford playing one of the most villainous characters he's ever played (maybe the most villainous?) You have a great supporting cast with people like Helen Mirren and River Phoenix. You've got a fantastic composer in Maurice Jarre. And then there's Peter Weird directing, who's made several classics, often involving themes of isolation or "adventures" that go wrong or people getting by in unfamiliar situations.

At the end... it's fine? It never really hits that point where it becomes something else, though. Maybe it's Ford's character- while I found it a breath of fresh air for the protagonist to have few, if any, redeeming qualities, maybe that hurt my engagement with the film in the long run.

Anyway, good premise, good acting, good music, and the the way it's shot is solid, too. Maybe it just needed a tighter script to keep things more interesting, or at least more consistent. It does feel poorly adapted into a movie, screenplay-wise. You can tell these lines are from a novel, with much of the dialogue sounding like they're just reading off a page.

Harrison Ford is often described as a movie star rather than an actor, but "The Mosquito Coast" easily disproves that (actually, so does "Blade Runner", but I digress). It's a fevered performance on which the whole film rests. Easily worth a watch.

But it also demands a lot from the audience. For one, there's an undercurrent of dread that's there right from the start and it's hard to watch Ford's mercurial character drag his family to the far ends of the jungle essentially to reboot civilization (a myopic one, at that). All I could think of was my family in that situation (hell, no).

I'm not going to lie, this is a hard movie, rife with misfortune; on occasions shocking, infuriating and exhausting. But I was glued to my seat until the very end, primarily because of Ford's deteriorating mental state. That's a house of horrors unto itself. This is a well-directed movie but man if it's not wearing.