The Mosquito Coast
Metascore
49 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
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  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    88
    A courageous and serious film that explores the limits of the mythic American virtues of persistence, inventiveness, and rugged individualism.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Sheila Benson
    80
    Weir's orchestrated The Mosquito Coast's action to match Fox's progressive mental state, from rage to explosion to squalls and finally to hurricane velocity; however, the film leaves us not with an apotheosis, but exhaustion. [26 Nov 1986]
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  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    70
    It is hard to believe that a film as beautiful as The Mosquito Coast [adapted from the novel by Paul Theroux] can also be so bleak, but therein lies its power and undoing.
  4. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Paul Attanasio
    70
    The Mosquito Coast is the only movie you'll see this season that has too much ambition for its own good - its subject, really, is nothing less than the American experience.
  5. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    60
    As a persona of epic polarities, [Harrison Ford] animates this muddled, metaphysical journey into the jungle.
  6. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    The movie has been directed and acted so well, in fact, that almost all my questions have to do with the script: Why was the hero made so uncompromisingly hateful?
  7. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Jay Scott
    50
    The Mosquito Coast is a work of consummate craftsmanship and it's spectacularly acted, down to the smallest roles (Martha Plimpton as a classically obstreperous preacher's daughter, for example), but its field of vision is as narrow and eventually as claustrophobic as Allie's. [28 Nov 1986]
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  8. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Pat Graham
    50
    Peter Weir's 1986 adaptation of Paul Theroux's best-selling novel is literally that - an adaptation without much character of its own.
  9. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    What keeps The Mosquito Coast from being a great movie is too much caution.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Vincent Canby
    40
    In spite of its authentic scenery (it was filmed in Belize), this Mosquito Coast is utterly flat.
  11. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Julie Salamon
    40
    The picture's blandness - and hollowness - is startling when you consider the collaborators. [26 Nov 1986]
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  12. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    30
    The problem is that the high-pitched whine of Allie's character finally vitiates not merely the viewer's sympathy for him, but sympathy for the movie he dominates, despite the care and courage that went into its making.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. JayH.
    7
    Fascinating direction by Peter Weir, one of Harrison Ford's best performances and outstanding cinematography make this one a must see. Excellent story, always interesting. Excellent performances from everyone.… Full Review »
  2. MichaelL.
    6
    A mediocre adaptation of Theroux's great novel. While Ford is fine in the central role, the movie (and script) don't give enough breathing room for the inconsistencies and contradictions that ultimately doom Allie Fox to become apparent to the viewer. His character just never felt fully formed to me, which is a big problem since he dominates the story. I hate to fall back on cliches, but in this case it's really true: the book was way better.… Full Review »
  3. StevenG.
    10
    Possibly my favourite movie of all time beautiful, unusual and a chilling portrayal of shattered dreams.
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