The Mosquito Coast
Encyclopedia
The Mosquito Coast is a 1986 American film directed by Peter Weir
, based on the novel by Paul Theroux
. The film stars Harrison Ford
, Helen Mirren
, and River Phoenix
. The film tells the story of a family that leaves the United States and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of Central America. However, their jungle paradise quickly turns into a dystopia
as their stubborn father's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and aggressive. It was shot in the cities Cartersville
and Rome
in Georgia
, in addition to Baltimore, Maryland, and Belize
.
and American consumerism
, believing that Americans "buy junk, sell junk and eat junk," and that there is an impending nuclear war on the horizon as a result of American greed and crime.
Allie and Charlie go to a hardware store to buy components for a new invention, an ice machine known as Fat Boy. Upon seeing that the product was made in Japan, Allie refuses to purchase it. Allie and Charlie acquire the components at a local dump. Allie finishes assembling his creation. Allie's boss and asparagus farm owner, Mr. Polski (Dick O'Neill) complains that Allie is not tending to the asparagus, which is rotting. Allie, Charlie, and Allie's youngest son, Jerry (Jadrien Steele), meet Mr. Polski, and Allie shows him "Fat Boy." The machine leaves Polski unimpressed. As he drives past the fields,a dejected Allie comments on immigrants picking asparagus, and says that where they come from, they might think ice was a diamond of some sort. The home of the migrant workers is in a state of disarray exemplifying their poverty.
That night, Jerry tells "Mother" (Helen Mirren), that he believes something terrible is about to happen, which Mother rebuffs, explaining that she believes something good will happen. The next morning, Allie throws a party for the immigrant workers, before telling his family that they're leaving the United States
. Boarding a Panama
nian barge, Allie shouts a defiant "Goodbye, America!!! Have a nice day!!!," as the barge sails. Aboard, Allie's family meets Reverend Spellgood (Andre Gregory), a Christian
missionary
, his wife (Melanie Boland), and their daughter, Emily (Martha Plimpton). Emily flirts with Charlie. Allie and the Reverend begrudgingly try to get along, despite having entirely different religious views. The barge docks in Belize City
. The families disembark and go their separate ways. Allie, with the consent of the Belize
government, purchases a small village called Jeronimo in the rainforest along the river.
Mr. Haddy (Conrad Roberts) takes Allie and his family upriver to Jeronimo. Allie meets the inhabitants and proceeds to start building a new, 'advanced' civilization, in the process inventing many new things. The locals take kindly to Allie and his family, but Allie's will to build a utopic
civilization keeps them working to their limits. One day, Reverend Spellgood arrives to convert Jeronimo's citizens. In the process, Allie and Spellgood angrily denounce each other, leading to a permanent schism: Allie believes Spellgood to be a religious zealot; Spellgood believes Allie to be a Communist. Allie sets to constructing a huge version of "Fat Boy" that can supply Jeronimo with ice. Upon completing the machine, Allie hears rumors of a native tribe in the mountains that have never seen ice. Allie recruits his two sons to carry a load of ice into the jungle to supply the tribe. Upon arriving, Allie find that the load has melted, and that the tribe has already been visited by missionaries. When Allie returns to Jeronimo, he learns that Spellgood has left with much of the populace, scaring them with stories of God's biblical destruction.
The near-empty town is visited by rebels, who demand to use Jeronimo as a guerrilla base. Allie and his family accept to accommodate them while Allie constructs a plan to be rid of them. Set on freezing them to death, Allie bunks the rebels up in the giant ice machine, tells Charlie to lock the only other exit to the machine, leaving them no escape route, and starts the machine. The rebels, waking in panic, try to shoot their way through. This causes an explosion, blows up the ice machine and, thereafter, Jeronimo. Allie and his family watch on in horror.
Forced downstream, Allie and his family arrive at the coast. Mother and the children rejoice, believing they can return to the USA. Allie, refusing to believe his dream has been shattered, announces that they have all they need on the beach and, lying, tells the family that America's been destroyed in a nuclear war. Settling on the beach in a houseboat he built, and refusing assistance from Mr. Haddy, a paranoid Allie believes that the family's accomplished building a utopia. One night, there is a terrible storm, nearly forcing the family out to sea, until Charlie reveals he's been hiding motor components given to him by Haddy, allowing them to start the motor on the boat. The family becomes physically and emotionally weaker for lack of food, shelter and other human companionship. Traveling upstream once again, Allie and his family stumble across Spellgood's compound. Coming ashore, Allie sees barbed wire, and believes the settlement to be a Christian concentration camp. While the rest of the family sleeps, Charlie and Jerry sneak over to the Spellgood home. After finding out that the US was not destroyed by a nuclear war and that Emily will assist them in escaping from Allie, Charlie obtains the keys to a jeep. Before Charlie can convince Mother and his sisters to leave, Allie sets the Spellgood church on fire. Reverend Spellgood shoots Allie, paralyzing him from the neck down. The family escapes aboard the boat.
The film concludes with the group traveling downriver again, where Allie drifts in and out of consciousness. Allie asks his wife if they are going upstream. She lies to him - going against the wishes of her husband for the first time. Charlie's final narration reports the death of Allie but gives hope that the rest of the family can live their lives freely from now on.
bought the rights to Theroux's novel as soon as it was published, and Weir committed to filming it. Jack Nicholson
was originally offered the lead role, but backed out partly because he could not watch the LA Lakers from Belize, where part of the film was to be shot. He instead went on to star in Terms of Endearment
, a role Ford had also been offered.
As the film went into pre-production, and Weir was in Central America scouting for locations, the financial backing for the film fell through and the project was suspended indefinitely. In the meantime, Weir was approached to direct Witness
starring Harrison Ford. The film, which was Weir's first American production, was a critical and commercial success, garnering eight Academy Award nominations including Weir for Best Director, Ford for Best Actor, and the film itself for Best Film. During the production of Witness, Weir discussed The Mosquito Coast with Ford who became interested in the role of Allie Fox (though Ford's agent was less enthusiastic). With Ford attached to the project, financial backing and distribution for the film was easier to find (ultimately from Saul Zaentz
and Warner Bros.
).
Filming began the week of February 7, 1986 in Belize and finished there on April 26 before moving to Georgia (Weir and Ford famously missed the Academy Awards ceremony for which they had both been nominated for Witness). (the film won two Oscars, for Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing). Some post-production editing was done in Australia.
The film contains the last feature film role of Butterfly McQueen
, who had a prominent role in Gone with the Wind
. She plays a lapsed churchgoer, and in real life was a vocal atheist. The film also features a brief appearance by Jason Alexander
, who would go on to star as George Costanza
on the television series Seinfeld
.
of The New York Times
called it "utterly flat." In her review for the Washington Post, Rita Kempley wrote, "Sooner or later a man of invention will pollute paradise, a grand contradiction that gives Mosquito its bite and Ford inspiration for his most complex portrayal to date. As a persona of epic polarities, he animates this muddled, metaphysical journey into the jungle." In her review for the Los Angeles Times
, Sheila Benson wrote, "He's orchestrated The Mosquito Coasts action to match Fox's progressive mental state, from rage to explosion to squalls and finally to hurricane velocity; however, the film leaves us not with an apotheosis, but exhaustion." In his review for the Globe and Mail, Jay Scott
wrote, "The Mosquito Coast is a work of consummate craftsmanship and it's spectacularly acted, down to the smallest roles ... but its field of vision is as narrow and eventually as claustrophobic as Allie's." The negative reviews the film received prompted Harrison Ford to defend the film in the media: "there have been mixed reviews and I think the film has been very unfairly treated in some quarters. I have never seen a serious film treated so badly by the critics. And I think they're wrong. I don't mind saying I'm here trying to counter those negative reviews ... I'm not defensive about the picture, but I want the public to hear another point of view. Critics see a film and then rush to review it. This is the sort of movie that really doesn't sink home for about three days. It is disturbing and makes you think. It stays with you."
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 75% of 20 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 6.4 out of 10.
Out of a budget of $25 million, the film made only a little over $14 million in North America.
Despite being one of his least successful films, Ford has defended it, saying in one interview:
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
, based on the novel by Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
. The film stars Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, and River Phoenix
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
. The film tells the story of a family that leaves the United States and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of Central America. However, their jungle paradise quickly turns into a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
as their stubborn father's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and aggressive. It was shot in the cities Cartersville
Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville is a town in Bartow County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 19,7314. The city is the county seat of Bartow County.-Geography:Cartersville was named for Colonel Farish Carter....
and Rome
Rome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, in addition to Baltimore, Maryland, and Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
.
Plot
The film opens with Charlie Fox (River Phoenix) explaining that his father, Allie Fox (Harrison Ford), is a Harvard drop-out and brilliant inventor with "nine patents, six pending." Allie has grown fed up with the American DreamAmerican Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
and American consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
, believing that Americans "buy junk, sell junk and eat junk," and that there is an impending nuclear war on the horizon as a result of American greed and crime.
Allie and Charlie go to a hardware store to buy components for a new invention, an ice machine known as Fat Boy. Upon seeing that the product was made in Japan, Allie refuses to purchase it. Allie and Charlie acquire the components at a local dump. Allie finishes assembling his creation. Allie's boss and asparagus farm owner, Mr. Polski (Dick O'Neill) complains that Allie is not tending to the asparagus, which is rotting. Allie, Charlie, and Allie's youngest son, Jerry (Jadrien Steele), meet Mr. Polski, and Allie shows him "Fat Boy." The machine leaves Polski unimpressed. As he drives past the fields,a dejected Allie comments on immigrants picking asparagus, and says that where they come from, they might think ice was a diamond of some sort. The home of the migrant workers is in a state of disarray exemplifying their poverty.
That night, Jerry tells "Mother" (Helen Mirren), that he believes something terrible is about to happen, which Mother rebuffs, explaining that she believes something good will happen. The next morning, Allie throws a party for the immigrant workers, before telling his family that they're leaving the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Boarding a Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian barge, Allie shouts a defiant "Goodbye, America!!! Have a nice day!!!," as the barge sails. Aboard, Allie's family meets Reverend Spellgood (Andre Gregory), a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, his wife (Melanie Boland), and their daughter, Emily (Martha Plimpton). Emily flirts with Charlie. Allie and the Reverend begrudgingly try to get along, despite having entirely different religious views. The barge docks in Belize City
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
. The families disembark and go their separate ways. Allie, with the consent of the Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
government, purchases a small village called Jeronimo in the rainforest along the river.
Mr. Haddy (Conrad Roberts) takes Allie and his family upriver to Jeronimo. Allie meets the inhabitants and proceeds to start building a new, 'advanced' civilization, in the process inventing many new things. The locals take kindly to Allie and his family, but Allie's will to build a utopic
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
civilization keeps them working to their limits. One day, Reverend Spellgood arrives to convert Jeronimo's citizens. In the process, Allie and Spellgood angrily denounce each other, leading to a permanent schism: Allie believes Spellgood to be a religious zealot; Spellgood believes Allie to be a Communist. Allie sets to constructing a huge version of "Fat Boy" that can supply Jeronimo with ice. Upon completing the machine, Allie hears rumors of a native tribe in the mountains that have never seen ice. Allie recruits his two sons to carry a load of ice into the jungle to supply the tribe. Upon arriving, Allie find that the load has melted, and that the tribe has already been visited by missionaries. When Allie returns to Jeronimo, he learns that Spellgood has left with much of the populace, scaring them with stories of God's biblical destruction.
The near-empty town is visited by rebels, who demand to use Jeronimo as a guerrilla base. Allie and his family accept to accommodate them while Allie constructs a plan to be rid of them. Set on freezing them to death, Allie bunks the rebels up in the giant ice machine, tells Charlie to lock the only other exit to the machine, leaving them no escape route, and starts the machine. The rebels, waking in panic, try to shoot their way through. This causes an explosion, blows up the ice machine and, thereafter, Jeronimo. Allie and his family watch on in horror.
Forced downstream, Allie and his family arrive at the coast. Mother and the children rejoice, believing they can return to the USA. Allie, refusing to believe his dream has been shattered, announces that they have all they need on the beach and, lying, tells the family that America's been destroyed in a nuclear war. Settling on the beach in a houseboat he built, and refusing assistance from Mr. Haddy, a paranoid Allie believes that the family's accomplished building a utopia. One night, there is a terrible storm, nearly forcing the family out to sea, until Charlie reveals he's been hiding motor components given to him by Haddy, allowing them to start the motor on the boat. The family becomes physically and emotionally weaker for lack of food, shelter and other human companionship. Traveling upstream once again, Allie and his family stumble across Spellgood's compound. Coming ashore, Allie sees barbed wire, and believes the settlement to be a Christian concentration camp. While the rest of the family sleeps, Charlie and Jerry sneak over to the Spellgood home. After finding out that the US was not destroyed by a nuclear war and that Emily will assist them in escaping from Allie, Charlie obtains the keys to a jeep. Before Charlie can convince Mother and his sisters to leave, Allie sets the Spellgood church on fire. Reverend Spellgood shoots Allie, paralyzing him from the neck down. The family escapes aboard the boat.
The film concludes with the group traveling downriver again, where Allie drifts in and out of consciousness. Allie asks his wife if they are going upstream. She lies to him - going against the wishes of her husband for the first time. Charlie's final narration reports the death of Allie but gives hope that the rest of the family can live their lives freely from now on.
Cast
- Harrison FordHarrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Allie Fox - Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
as "Mother" Fox - River PhoenixRiver PhoenixRiver Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
as Charlie Fox - Conrad Roberts as Mr. Haddy
- Andre Gregory as Reverend Spellgood
- Martha Plimpton as Emily Spellgood
- Melanie Boland as Mrs. Spellgood
- Dick O'NeillDick O'NeillDick O'Neill was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company member of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.He served in the Navy then returned to the theater. In the late...
as Mr. Polski - Jadrien Steele as Jerry Fox
- Hilary Gordon as April Fox
- Rebecca Gordon as Clover Fox
- Alice Heffernan-Sneeds as Mrs. Polski
- Jason AlexanderJason AlexanderJay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
as Hardware Clerk - William Newman as Captain Smalls
- Aurora ClavelAurora ClavelAurora Clavel is a Mexican film and television actress who is noted for her roles in the movies Tarahumara and Once upon a Scroundel , as well as in numerous telenovelas...
as Mrs. Maywit
Production
Producer Jerome HellmanJerome Hellman
Jerome Hellman is an American film producer. He is perhaps best known for being the producer of the 42nd recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1969, Midnight Cowboy...
bought the rights to Theroux's novel as soon as it was published, and Weir committed to filming it. Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
was originally offered the lead role, but backed out partly because he could not watch the LA Lakers from Belize, where part of the film was to be shot. He instead went on to star in Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
, a role Ford had also been offered.
As the film went into pre-production, and Weir was in Central America scouting for locations, the financial backing for the film fell through and the project was suspended indefinitely. In the meantime, Weir was approached to direct Witness
Witness (1985 film)
Witness is a 1985 American thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W...
starring Harrison Ford. The film, which was Weir's first American production, was a critical and commercial success, garnering eight Academy Award nominations including Weir for Best Director, Ford for Best Actor, and the film itself for Best Film. During the production of Witness, Weir discussed The Mosquito Coast with Ford who became interested in the role of Allie Fox (though Ford's agent was less enthusiastic). With Ford attached to the project, financial backing and distribution for the film was easier to find (ultimately from Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz is an American film producer and former record company executive. He has won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and in 1996 was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award....
and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
).
Filming began the week of February 7, 1986 in Belize and finished there on April 26 before moving to Georgia (Weir and Ford famously missed the Academy Awards ceremony for which they had both been nominated for Witness). (the film won two Oscars, for Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing). Some post-production editing was done in Australia.
The film contains the last feature film role of Butterfly McQueen
Butterfly McQueen
Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen was an American actress. Originally a dancer, the 28-year-old McQueen first appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, then continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s .-Early life:Born...
, who had a prominent role in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
. She plays a lapsed churchgoer, and in real life was a vocal atheist. The film also features a brief appearance by Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
, who would go on to star as George Costanza
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
on the television series Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
.
Critical response
The film met with critical and commercial disappointment. Siskel & Ebert were split, Siskel giving the film a "thumbs up" and Ebert giving it a "thumbs down," criticizing it as "boring." Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called it "utterly flat." In her review for the Washington Post, Rita Kempley wrote, "Sooner or later a man of invention will pollute paradise, a grand contradiction that gives Mosquito its bite and Ford inspiration for his most complex portrayal to date. As a persona of epic polarities, he animates this muddled, metaphysical journey into the jungle." In her review for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Sheila Benson wrote, "He's orchestrated The Mosquito Coasts action to match Fox's progressive mental state, from rage to explosion to squalls and finally to hurricane velocity; however, the film leaves us not with an apotheosis, but exhaustion." In his review for the Globe and Mail, Jay Scott
Jay Scott
Jay Scott was the pen name of Jeffrey Scott Beaven , a Canadian film critic.Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Scott fled to Canada in 1969 as a draft dodger. He settled in Calgary, and began writing film reviews for the Calgary Albertan a few years later...
wrote, "The Mosquito Coast is a work of consummate craftsmanship and it's spectacularly acted, down to the smallest roles ... but its field of vision is as narrow and eventually as claustrophobic as Allie's." The negative reviews the film received prompted Harrison Ford to defend the film in the media: "there have been mixed reviews and I think the film has been very unfairly treated in some quarters. I have never seen a serious film treated so badly by the critics. And I think they're wrong. I don't mind saying I'm here trying to counter those negative reviews ... I'm not defensive about the picture, but I want the public to hear another point of view. Critics see a film and then rush to review it. This is the sort of movie that really doesn't sink home for about three days. It is disturbing and makes you think. It stays with you."
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 75% of 20 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 6.4 out of 10.
Out of a budget of $25 million, the film made only a little over $14 million in North America.
Despite being one of his least successful films, Ford has defended it, saying in one interview: