The Mosquito Coast (1986)

An inventor spurns his city life to move his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

Paul Theroux (novel), Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Allie Fox
Helen Mirren	...	Mother
River Phoenix	...	Charlie
Jadrien Steele	...	Jerry
Hilary Gordon	...	April
Rebecca Gordon	...	Clover
Jason Alexander	...	Clerk
Dick O'Neill	...	Mr. Polski
Alice Heffernan-Sneed	...	Mrs. Polski (as Alice Sneed)
Tiger Haynes	...	Mr. Semper
William Newman	...	Captain Smalls
Andre Gregory	...	Reverend Spellgood
Melanie Boland	...	Mrs. Spellgood
Martha Plimpton	...	Emily Spellgood
Raymond Clare	...	Convert 1

Storyline

An eccentric and dogmatic inventor sells his house and takes his family to Central America to build a utopia in the middle of the jungle. Conflicts with his family, a local preacher and with nature are only small obstacles to his obsession. Based upon a Paul Theroux novel.

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Plot Keywords:

central america | inventor | jungle | utopia | missionary | 

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Taglines:

Allie Fox followed his dream to the Mosquito Coast. He planned a paradise. He created a Hell.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 November 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mosquito Coast

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,302,779

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Saul Zaentz Company, Jerome Hellman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jack Nicholson was considered for the lead male role of Allie Fox which in the end was cast with Harrison Ford. Nicholson withdrew from the film partially because he could not watch his Los Angeles Lakers basketball team from Belize where much of the movie was to be filmed.

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Goofs

The "Ice from Fire" technique for using heat, ammonia and hydrogen was actually invented in 1824 by the English scientist Michael Faraday.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Charlie: My father was an inventor, a genius with anything mechanical. Nine patents, six pending. He dropped out of Harvard, "to get an education", he said. I grew up with the belief that the world belonged to him, and that everything he said was true.
Allie Fox: Look around ya, how did America get this way? Land of promise, land of opportunity. Give us the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Have a Coke. Watch TV.
Charlie: Have a nice day.
Allie Fox: Go on welfare. Get free money. Turn to crime - crime pays in this ...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofed in Back to the Future Part III (1990)

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Soundtracks

Sing Alleluia
Words and Music by Gary Johnson
Performed by Grace Gospel Primary School Choir

User Reviews

Good film- superb acting all around, but I wish it had a slightly different angle

Harrison Ford is brilliant in this film, as is the rest of the cast, and I am a big fan of this sort of film that explores the human psyche. I, however, wish the film spent just as much time showing the Missionaries evils and maniacal religious B.S. as it did painting Ford's character as a dangerous megalomaniac. I disagree with many of Ford's characters decisions over the course of the film...and in the long run he ends up becoming exactly what he set out to destroy, but his ideas on America are SPOT ON (and are just as relevant today) and it goes without saying that his errors are paled in comparison to what Christian missionaries have done through the brainwashing of the 3rd world people. My point is that Ford's character's plans were ill-conceived and nutty, but the world he left was just as insane.