lefkiosvanrooy Review of The Mosquito Coast

The Mosquito Coast (1986)

An unsatisfying outcome to a story involving a highly self-absorbed and egocentric genius

[5/10 · 28 March 2016]

While this movie starts with a promising storyline and a character that while not always likable (and quite self-absorbed for the entirety of the film), still has interesting thoughts on the American way of living and an incredible craftsmanship, it soon leaves you with disdain about this character and the interest that had been developed in the 1st hour of the movie soon turns into a drag, leaving you feeling frustrated about why these characters are being silent towards the father's reckless and almost-deadly treatment. The father turns from a man with a vision of building a civilisation from scratch into a man obsessed with not abiding to any form of current civilisation and living. He drags his family through dangerous situations for the sole purpose of making a living based on his narrow-minded view of how humans should live life. And while this could still make for an interesting storyline, the sole outcome of the terrain his family experiences is that with his sudden passing, they can now be free to live life the way they want to – a somehow unsatisfying final outcome when you consider the ordeal these people had to go through.