Harrison
Ford's consecutive film with director Peter Weir has the popular
movie star stretching his acting credentials in a role far removed
from his usual screen persona.
Said character is Allie Fox, a highly egotistical yet brilliant
inventor who has developed a deep disdain for what his country has
become. Paranoid that a new world war is upon them, Allie whisks
his adoring family away to the jungles of a third world country,
where they will begin their own civilization.
The film is told through the eyes of his son Charlie, who is played
by River Phoenix in a breakthrough year for the young actor (Rob
Reiner's Stand By Me was also released in 1986). Helen
Mirren co-stars as Allie's long suffering yet obedient wife. The Mosquito Coast can be a distressing and frustrating watch:
it is not fun to bear witness to a man going down in the flames
of his delusion whilst taking his family along with him.
However, Ford's force of nature portrayal of a highly unappealing
yet oddly alluring character driven by ego and madness does make
up for some of the films misgivings.
His characters passionate and frantic tirades about the death of
the American dream is felt with every fibre of his being, while
his verbal clashes against a fervent missionary (Andre Gregory)
are delightfully staged.
Besides Ford and Weir, several key crew from Witness have also returned:
composer Maurice Jarre; editor Thom Noble; and cinematographer John
Seale all do wonderful work here.
The film was shot mainly in the Central American country of Belize,
and the novel from which the movie is based on was adapted by Paul
Schrader, who brings his impeding sense of doom to the film.
