Sadly Over-hyped

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I am a "child" of the 80s, and loved the big blockbusters (and at the top of that list, Star Wars and Indiana Jones). Harrison Ford was and still is an idol of mine.When I first saw Mosquito Coast on video in the late 80's, my expectations were of a grand adventure in the tradition of Indiana Jones. I just rewatched the trailer for the film, and the narrator literally mentions Indiana Jones and says that this is "Ford's biggest adventure yet." The trailer is almost 100% composed of explosions, which again completely sets the wrong expectations. So when I saw it as a young teenager, I was thoroughly disappointed at the lack of action. There was just too much pesky dialog and not enough "good parts." Not enough explosions, by golly! Well, almost 30 years later, the film holds up incredibly well, and I find it infinitely more enjoyable than that first viewing. In my mind I put it in a category of "Ford's boring movie", but now I see it as one of his finest acting performances (possibly his best), and the story and production of the film has an artistic quality that was completely unappreciated by kids in the 80s, and even critics in the 80s (Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs down for being too boring).If this movie was released today, I would not be surprised to find it on the Best Picture nomination list, and Ford up for best actor (and River Phoenix for supporting actor). The film is just incredible. The underlying storyline about consumerism is as relevant today as ever. The characters are unpredictable, yet you can identify with them. The location shooting adds a dimension and authenticity to the film that just cannot be replaced by filming on a Hollywood studio backlot.In summary, I highly recommend this film and plan on adding it to my very limited personal collection of treasured movies (right next to Indiana Jones!).

A tale of an eccentric genius with an equally eccentric dream and his desire to escape a supposedly doomed America with his family to form a retro civilization in the tropics. It's difficult to like Harrison Ford (Allie)-especially in the last third of this movie when he starts really going off the deep end. But it is unique and really illustrates the mindset of an eccentric genius character well. If you are a middle-of-the-road (perhaps slightly Democratic) person with a 9-5 job-you know...the kind that the doomsayers claim has not "woke up" to what is going on, then you won't get it. You won't like it at all either. But art is not about being liked and often it is not even about passing judgment. Art is about illustrating the phenomenon of what it is to be human-without using crayons.

This really isn't so bad, but it feels like a case of wasted potential. As a Herzogian journey of a self-righteous madman dragging down everyone who cares about him by his own hubris, it doesn't go quite far enough and seems watered down. It could be Weir's direction or it could be his own choices, but Ford appears to be holding back without really exploring the darkness of the character. Mirren has little to do, and Gregory is stuck in a lame caricature. The film flirts with some compelling themes but always seems to veer off into adventure mode when things start getting real. Still, the plot elements are solid and one's interest in the various situations is maintained. The music and cinematography are quite fine. I'm generally underwhelmed by Weir's post-70's work, but this is one of the better ones. It's too bad it doesn't have a little more ambition to it.

I've recently re-watched this movie and, after looking up the reviews on here, was quite surprised to see such a low rating and such negative reviews. I'm still not quite sure why, but my thoughts are that 1. people mistake this for a movie about ideas instead of a movie about a man, and 2. people think this will be a movie in which Harrison Ford plays the same old character instead of acts.Ford's character is not likable, which I think is the point. He is a narcissist blinded to the way the world works. He believes he can force the universe to his own will, as a narcissist will do. Certainly, the film takes this character to an extreme, but isn't that the point of drama? I found the characterization to be very spot on.This isn't the usual Hollywood slop pretending to be intellectual and deep. It is a study of complicated characters living in a complicated world without easy answers or neat conclusions.