WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Mr-Fusion 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.

SimonJack Harrison Ford gives a superb performance as Allie Fox in "The Mosquito Coast." It earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. Fox is a genius of an inventor, with many patents and pending patents. Though, as with many people of true genius intelligence, he is lacking in social skills. And, his emotions and psyche waiver from the range of common human relations. He is radical in his viewpoints. The difference between him and others like him, is that he does something about it by moving his family from America with its usual comforts -- besides its problems as he sees them, to the jungle of Central America. He sets out to create a utopia, but instead molds a dystopia. In the process, he becomes a tyrant and oppressor of his family. The contrast is obvious where Fox talks about freedom and the lack of it, and then lays down a heavy hand subjecting his family to hardship and frightening times. The movie is based on a novel by American-British author Paul Theroux. I don't know how closely the film follows the book. The film clearly depicts a genius and idealist who is extremely proud. He knows he is superior to everyone else. In time, he becomes egomaniacal even with his family. More than once in the film, Fox says that he is doing this for them - his family, his children. But he is delusional and is obsessed with achievement while disdaining any outside help. Others of the cast are very good. Helen Mirren plays Mother, wife of Fox. River Phoenix is the oldest son, Charlie, through whose eyes the story is told. Others in the supporting cast are very good as well. Most notable among them is Conrad Roberts as Mr. Haddy. The film production is very good in all of its technical aspects. And the acting is first-rate. But this is a difficult movie to sit through. It seems quite long and many viewers may find it boring. It's not a movie that people can enjoy, but is more like a sad tale. For those reasons, it can't score higher than seven stars.

lefkiosvanrooy While this movie starts with a promising storyline and a character that while not always likable (and quite self-absorbed for the entirety of the film), still has interesting thoughts on the American way of living and an incredible craftsmanship, it soon leaves you with disdain about this character and the interest that had been developed in the 1st hour of the movie soon turns into a drag, leaving you feeling frustrated about why these characters are being silent towards the father's reckless and almost-deadly treatment. The father turns from a man with a vision of building a civilisation from scratch into a man obsessed with not abiding to any form of current civilisation and living. He drags his family through dangerous situations for the sole purpose of making a living based on his narrow-minded view of how humans should live life. And while this could still make for an interesting storyline, the sole outcome of the terrain his family experiences is that with his sudden passing, they can now be free to live life the way they want to – a somehow unsatisfying final outcome when you consider the ordeal these people had to go through.

TxMike Harrison Ford was well established when this movie came out in 1986. Several of the Star Wars movies with him as Han Solo had already been made, as well as two of the Indiana Jones movies. This role is a departure from those and the movie's success rides on his performance. He carries it well.He plays Allie Fox, an inventor living in the greater Baltimore area with his wife and 4 children. He is bright and positive and seems able to invent a solution to about any problem. His family looks up to him and follows his lead. So when he pulls up roots and tells the family to pack their suitcases, they are going to a wild and unspoiled place, they smile and take the boat trip to Central America in stride.Helen Mirren, not yet well known in the USA in 1986, is his wife 'Mother' Fox. His oldest son, about 15, is River Phoenix as Charlie Fox. Allie is brilliant but stubborn, and while that gets them towards many solutions it also gets them into more problems than they bargained for.Allie was fed up with the commercialization and frivolity of the world. He wanted a life free of all that for himself and his family.A young Martha Plimpton, also about 15, is good as Emily Spellgood in a smaller supporting role as the daughter of a Christian Evangelist.I enjoyed it for the novelty and the complexity of trying to start fresh in this modern world.SPOILERS: For my recollection, his first settlement is working well, with gardens and even a giant ice-maker and air-conditioner run on flames. When three men with guns arrive and threaten their existence Allie lures them inside the machine as a type of 'hotel' for the night, locks them in, and starts the machine to freeze them. But they shoot and damage the workings, everything explodes and burns, they have to leave. Their next home is on the seashore, but a big storm tears it up. Back on the river they encounter the preacher's settlement, they start a fire, the preacher has a gun and shoots Allie, he dies on their little houseboat as they approach the sea again. Presumably the family goes back to Baltimore.