The Mosquito Coast review (1986) Harrison Ford - Qwipster's Movie Reviews
Screenplay: Paul Schrader        (based on the novel by Paul Theroux)
Review     published February 6, 2008
One of the more overlooked gems in        Harrison Ford's ( Indiana Jones and the Temple        of Doom , Return of the Jedi ) career, The Mosquito Coast gives the perennial        everyman hero personality the chance to branch out by playing someone not        so likeable.  Peter Weir ( The Truman Show , Master and Commander ), who also        directed Ford to success a year before in the Best Picture-nominated Witness, directs this Paul Schrader ( Taxi        Driver , Affliction ) adaptation of the        Paul Theroux novel, casting Ford as Allie Fox, a disgruntled American        inventor who gets so pissed off at the loss of what he believes is a dying        America, he decides to pack up his bags and family, taking them to the        rain forests of South America to live a life away from civilization, and        the threat of nuclear annihilation he believes is imminent.  Stubborn        to a fault, Allie's family begins to miss the creature comforts of home,        but he won't listen to their complaints, believing their exile and hard        life is the best thing for them.  They struggle for survival amid the        untamed environs, with religious zealotry, hostile guerrillas, and extreme        weather conditions.  Under the worsening pressure, the family        threatens to crack, as Allie appears to become more quixotic in his quest        for starting his own brand of civilization.
Harrison Ford has remarked that The Mosquito Coast is his personal favorite entry in his filmography,        and though that does surprise given how many great films he's been a part        of, it definitely isn't quite like any of his other films in terms of his        performance.  Perhaps one of the reasons that the mass public has        continued to fail to embrace the film is that he works against the grain        at every opportunity, playing a borderline villain, not unlike Captain        Ahab in "Moby Dick", willing to push his entire family to the brink of his        own madness in order to come to a destiny that he keeps changing a firm        position on. 
Those attracted to the film        because of the screen adaptation by vet Paul Schrader need not be        surprised by the tone, as he has specialized in movies that are far from "happy ending" territory as possible.  It should be noted that even        in a Schrader adaptation that Allie Fox isn't as much of an SOB as he is        in the book form.  The form of the film feels quite literary, with        its thematic motifs, tendencies to develop character camps as allegorical        devices, and underlying symbolism that is always present even in the most        personal of scenes.  Even a scene of Allie going to a hardware store        to buy cable is rife with subtext, as he can't stand to see American        product replaced by cheaper Japanese imports.  Fox is a mule that        won't submit to reason, preferring the hard road to the general        complacency that he sees all around him in giving up pride and dignity for        cheaper goods and easier ways of living.  He can't understand it and        won't be a part of it any longer.
As Fox continues to push further,        it does often make one wonder whether he actually is an idealist or merely        an egotist.  I think the answer lies with the appearance of a couple        of spark plugs, desperately needed to start a motor to keep the family        from certain calamity, which Fox continues to refuse coming from an        outside source.  Allie's eldest child (Phoenix, Stand by Me ) must tell him he found them in        order for them to be accepted, which does show that he isn't trying to        make things difficult so much as refuse to ever be assisted.  One can        argue that his whole repudiation of religion stems from his belief that        man needs no assistance, even from God, even with our imperfections (Fox        even thinks that human beings themselves are an imperfect design, so how        can he respect the flawed inventor of man?).
With such heady aspirations,        perhaps The Mosquito Coast will be considered an overreaching        parable of the folly of man to think he can ever create a utopia,        regardless of how far from civilization one goes.  As Fox supposes all        along, humankind is a flawed piece of work that will ultimately show its propensity for imperfection time and again.  The same could be said        about this ambitious and thoughtful film that might not quite know its        bounds when it comes to how far it can go within the construct of its own        peculiar universe, but like Allie Fox himself, we admire the effort, if        not the methods to the madness. 
Qwipster's rating: