MovieChat Forums > The Mosquito Coast (1986) Discussion > Wouldve been so much better with Jack N...

Wouldve been so much better with Jack Nicholson.

posted 12 years ago by Iceman-15
15 replies | jump to latest

Ford was okay, but this role was taylor made for Jack.

I graduated from the college of the streets, I gotta Phd in how to make ends meet.

[–] FN_Wolf 12 years ago

I have to disagree. I was watching it tonight, and although I love Jack, Harrison was great.

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Fol rol de ol rol.

[–] Iceman-15 12 years ago

Think of Jack, and how he transformed in The Shining. And how his transformation in The Mosquito Coast would've been so much better than Ford's.

I graduated from the college of the streets, I gotta Phd in how to make ends meet.

[–] smerd_70 12 years ago

Then people would be bitching and moaning that Jack played the same character that he did in The Shining.
Ford was perfect for the role.

I collect dead pigeons then I press them between the pages of a book.

[–] drastic_quench 12 years ago

Nah, he would have been to overtly cold and menacing. Harrison Ford is disarmingly warm; it's hard to see the danger underneath.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] SamuelLJedi 10 years ago

Yes

[–] movie_geek87 12 years ago

Is they ever make a remake, I thought Bill Paxton would be a great choice.

[–] Vance_Bel_Air 11 years ago

Adding another name to the list, I think Chris Cooper's John Laroche character in Adaptation was a variation on Allie Fox.

[–] Ashaod43 11 years ago

Harrison was perfect for this, his mannerisms worked perfectly for how this guy was supposed to be. Jack is a great actor but would have never worked with him. On a side note I loved this until they have to leave their village, the movie seems to fall apart much like their lives at that point. It just isnt as interesting after that point.

[–] SamuelLJedi 10 years ago

Or Bill Pullman. And the crazy he gets the more his eyes cross.

[–] standrkm 10 years ago

kubrick allowed jack to be that awesome character in the shining, harrison was amazing in this, I can't see it being played any better

"..But I, got Ph.D from Pimp State, And I, got a Master's Degree in movin' weight"

[–] Degree7 9 years ago

Harrison Ford was originally considered for the role of Jack Torrance in The Shining. After reading the book, I believe that Ford would have suited the role better than Nicholson

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] christomacin (4730) 3 years ago

Ford was in what I call his "William Hurt Phase" of more "sensitive" and/or "challenging" roles. Ford was not bad, but a lot of other actors might have been even better suited for this role, William Hurt among them.

[–] HarveyManFredSin (4877) 2 years ago

I think Harrison is great in this.

It's one of his most underrated performances, and it's a shame he hasn't really stretched himself to such a degree since.

As another poster said, he's all the more powerful and compelling in this role because by-and-large Ford has a 'normal' and trustworthy persona in most of his films, so it is genuinely disarming and unnerving when his character starts cracking up and mentally fragmenting. Jack Nicholson would have been too obvious, whereas with Ford, we have a guy who we instinctively trust and respect, so the turn is much more powerful and ambiguous.