MovieChat Forums > The Mosquito Coast (1986) Discussion > Am I the only one?

Am I the only one?

posted 18 years ago by cutelovelylisa
12 replies | jump to latest

I am watching this movie right now and I feel there is something it is lacking. I normally don't like the hollywood crap nowadays but this movie is kinda boring. I mean I keep dosing off and I keep trying to tell myself that it just doesn't have much action. I don't know.. I mean I remember when Cast away came out there were people who thought that was boring.. I loved it. It was so interesting and it left me wanting to know more. Now I know this movie is nothing like that, but I am still bored. I am sure I will get a lot of rude replies but this is just my opinion.

[–] cheepnis 18 years ago

I hear what your're saying -- I thought the movie was good, but I also didn't really like where it went. I think it took a wrong turn when they tried to take the ice to the natives, then it really bogged down after the explosion.

[–] tnilfo 17 years ago

It completely falls apart after the explosion, there's no narrative drive to the story anymore. Until that point Allie had been fixated on his ice, but when the ice machine was gone he had nothing to do anymore. So they drifted, and the story drifted.

[–] Amry0217 17 years ago

I can't understand it. What was the reason for making it? There's not much of a plotline. It got almost 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix but I was completely baffled as in "is this all there is?" Was there some symbolic reason I didn't catch? I don't understand symbolism much. I'll try to watch it again and hope I can understand it better.
==============================
He lifts me clear to the sky, you know he taught me to fly.

[–] megmarch2003 17 years ago

Even though Harrison Ford's performance was good, it really was just a crappy movie. He wasn't a pioneer, he wasn't a visionary; he was just a delusional *beep* who put his family in danger, murdered three men, and burned down a church. In that order.

"You can't tell me nothin' if you ain't had an 8-track." -Sinbad

[–] dcfrate3 16 years ago

I think that the OP and everyone who's replied so far have completely missed an obvious and simplistic device used by the film makers. There's a reason that the plot feels like this after the visit to the natives. It's at this point that Allie's mind really begins to go. Until this point, his brilliance had the upper hand, but then the madness really begins to take over. As a result, Weir's direction also begins to reflect this change, and like Allie's personality, it only falls apart at an increasing rate from there. I've not read the novel, so I can't discuss how Theroux handled this portion of the narrative.

[–] LightningLad 16 years ago

I think that the OP and everyone who's replied so far have completely missed an obvious and simplistic device used by the film makers. There's a reason that the plot feels like this after the visit to the natives. It's at this point that Allie's mind really begins to go. Until this point, his brilliance had the upper hand, but then the madness really begins to take over. As a result, Weir's direction also begins to reflect this change, and like Allie's personality, it only falls apart at an increasing rate from there. I've not read the novel, so I can't discuss how Theroux handled this portion of the narrative.

*spoilers*After the explosion Allie Fox's power dreams have failed and following a descent into insanity he is confronted by the community established by another egotist, the Reverend Spellgood, who has made a success of his own dreams by relying on a more established belief system. This gives Allie somewhere to focus his anger and frustration, so he burns down the church, symbol of that belief system, and then is ultimately killed by his nemesis, Spellgood. It brings the characterization full circle and is a very satisfying conclusion for those who have been following it. I have read Theroux's novel and like it, but the ending here is better. The novel ending is more horrific and operatic, this is less grandiose and it humanizes Allie in his final moments, which makes the overall story better in my opinion. This is one of the few movies that attains the level of a good novel, it's like a nuclear age Moby Dick.

[–] tstallw1987 15 years ago

I thought he was going looney tunes long before the ice maker exploded.

[–] WhisperingBells1959 15 years ago

I hear what you guys are saying on the movie being boring though I don't agree. Mosquito Coast is a 'quiet' film, stylistically very different from a lot of movies today and then-- it's pretty slow-paced, and it's more concerned about the characters than the plot. Really the only motivation to watch the second half of the film is the fate of the characters. It's also pretty rich with symbolism.

SPOILERS

He was going "looney tunes", as you put it, before the fire silikon2, and Allie really began going crazy after he invented the ice machine and "everybody was taking his ice for granted", as Charlie said. Then, he went absolutely NUTSO when the ice machine blew up. Between the failed colony (calling it a colony, for lack of a better word) he had set up and the America he so negatively spoke of, he could no longer tell the difference. Sad, really, because I admired Allie in some ways. I did like how the film dwindled more and more until the end, where it quietly came to a stop-- it just seemed more like real life, which isn't always fast and exciting, though it's certainly understandable that some find this movie boring. It's really a matter of taste.

"Remember men, we're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably more
than she ever did."
-Duck Soup

[–] tstallw1987 15 years ago

I felt the same "lacking" feeling as well. I have seen it a few times over the years since I like River Phoenix. The first time I just didn't much get at all why they did what they did. Now, being older, I understand better what Allie is doing. However, I still find it rather disaffecting because Allie is such an unlikeable character and I really don't care what he does but on the flip side he's not really villainous enough for me to want to see him get comeuppance. It's just so much "myeh". Also, it's pretty hard to believe his wife with all those young children would go along with moving to Mosquito Coast. Maybe if she had been played a little differently, like more of a crackpot herself, I could see it, but she is so straight laced and "confident wife" seeming I just couldn't buy she would put up moving to the jungle. Maybe they could have cut one of the endless jungle scenes to add in some dialogue of Allie convincing his wife he wants/has to do this, or some such? She seems to just be happy to ditch her unwashed dishes without considering how much harder and dangerous life is about to become. Allie is obviously flakey since he isn't doing his job properly. In families like this, especially with this many kids, the mother would be running the family.

Also, there are so many things that just aren't believable. Can you just buy a town then all the people there happily go to work for you? That also gives a rather strong hint of slavery, but perhaps that was intended. And this farmer guy employs Allie to find a way to refrigerate his crops? That doesn't really ring true either. The farmer didn't notice that no progress had been made? How long has the guy been working there? How well could this really pay?

The movie feels lacking because it has so many pluses. The acting is quite strong and the material is treated seriously, but at the end of the day, it's neither a believable nor compelling story. Aside from the things that aren't believable, it just drags.

[–] tstallw1987 15 years ago

Not only that, but I just started watching it again and there is really not much of a plot. It's about like watching someone complain about their job then go on vacation. It's about 30 minutes into it before they get to Geronimo and it's not at all clear what Allie is planning especially since he himself seems surprised that the city is so crappy when they arrive. Then it's about 20 minutes later before they start building the ice machine while meanwhile we are mostly just watching them improve that city. This is not a very compelling story line.

[–] Zoomorph 15 years ago

The story is not meant to be compelling and show you the crystal answer, in fact it's the exact opposite! If you can't handle it, then just go watch some other movie, there is plenty of dumbed down movies about living in the jungle that you can probably understand.

~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

[–] 15 years ago

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