Kunzig – The Mosquito Coast

   Allie Fox, played by Harrison Ford, is an inventor, husband and father of four, living in the United States in the 1980s. He is devoted to his inventions, and extremely critical of his country and its capitalism, materialism, consumerism. It seems to me that he was fanatic from the very beginning, since he was obviously "filled with excessive and single-minded zeal," which is how Google defines fanatic. This does not mean he should be considered "crazy" yet, however it was already a problem since it interfered with his functioning – he was not doing what he was employed for.

   In the beginning of the movie, or the first act, this fanaticism brings him to quit his job, giving up his family's only income. He then decides that they will immediately move out of the country, to Central America. He makes this decision so quickly that they do not make any plans – they simply leave, without selling or renting their house, even leaving the dishes in the sink, and having absolutely no clue where they will be living. This doesn't seem so bad yet – it is impulsive, fun, they are going on an adventure, and the whole family is happy, even Mother. But looking back, this was the first step in the degeneration of his mental health, the first step of his downfall. Of course his family do not start to see something wrong until they arrive in the town he had bought without having seen it.

   The second main incident that contributed to his downfall would probably be the arrival of the three armed men he invited to his town (although the ice melting on his way to the native village also did). This pushed him to attempt crazy things to get rid of them – first telling them they were infested with ants and burning all their furniture, and when that didn't work, attempting to freeze them to death in Fat Boy. Allie had changed enough to consider killing as a good solution to his problem, and that is the biggest step he took towards insanity. He had lost the little respect his son Charlie still had for him. Even though somehow killing them seemed to make more sense than destroying all his furniture.

   The last important incident occurred when the family reached the missionary's settlement. During the night, Allie set their church on fire, simply because he disliked the missionary and disagreed with his views and teachings. Taking that action was the culmination of his mental illness, the final straw. He was shot; and although his family cared for him and were sad to see him die, they were also relieved.

Lam: Mosquito Coast

The Fallen Hero

                Harrison Ford usually plays the hero in his films or even a rogue-turned hero. Over his career, this is the character archetype that he has developed into. In Mosquito Coast, one can actually argue that he is a sort of fallen hero. Even though Allie (Harrison Ford) degenerates into fanaticism that eventually leads to almost destroying his own family, I would still argue that he plays the part of the fallen hero. Maybe because of his usual archetype as a rogue or lead hero, this film was a very complicated and ambitious film from an artistic point of view (Pfeiffer 159).

                In the very first act of the film, the audience can see Allie take the first step towards fanaticism when he decides to not show up for work on the asparagus farm. Allie instead acts very rebelliously and tries to convince his boss that his invention is worth the time that he took off from work. Here, he shows his first step towards fanaticism in his inventions and actually causes harm to another person in order to achieve his invention. This harm may not be physical harm, but instead, Allie is harming his farmer boss's business and harvest.

                In the second act of the film, Allie's step towards fanaticism comes when his invention Fatboy explodes and kills the three marauders inside. At this point, his colony of Geronimo also gets destroyed in the process. He began showing signs of fanaticism with his fear of the three marauders invading his colony, but he truly did not cross the line until Allie threw away his moral convictions and resigned to inflicting harm on the three marauders. Allie originally intended for the three to simply go to sleep and become frozen, which indicates to the audience that Allie did not really intend to kill the three. However, due their actual deaths, Allie finally crossed the threshold into a point of no return. This event sparked a fuse in Allie to rebuild his colony elsewhere and cross into fanaticism by eventually lying to his own family about America being blown up and destroyed.

                In the last act of the film, Allie's final step towards fanaticism becomes realized when he burns declines to travel downstream towards Hatty's home and chooses to travel upstream instead. This act of defiance harmed the family because they all wanted to return to civilization. Another instance of true fanaticism was when Allie burned down the church due to pure hatred of the Reverend. This is important because he did not care about anyone's well-being anymore and chose to only satisfy himself. He truly became obsessed with himself and his way of thinking, and Allie did not stop until there was no one standing in his way. Overall, Allie truly stepped into chaotic fanaticism and almost did not redeem himself until the very end right before his death.

O'Connell: Mosquito Coast

Allie Fox is first introduced as an intelligent man disillusioned with modern American society. Not yet a fanatic, he is simply a man with a healthy critique of the government, as is necessary to inspire progress. He is a father trying to provide for his family, and an inventor trying to make the world a better place. But his criticism is as unwelcome to Americans as is his invention to his employer, leading him to frustration as his efforts are unappreciated. This dissatisfaction causes him to idealize an alternative lifestyle, and he abandons ship in effort to reach his own vision of society as he would make it. At this point Allie’s loyal family believes in this vision, and is willing to pursue his dream of a better world right alongside him.

After the first Act’s establishment of the new Jeronimo formed in his own image, the newly deified Allie must face the reality of his aspirations as things begin to go against his plan. He envisioned a paradise, but things rarely go according to intricate plans when one simply does not have divine power. The extent of Allie’s god complex and hubris led to a more devastating fall when the unexpected actions of the refugees destroys his intricate plans. Due to his fanaticism, the destruction of his paradise doesn’t cause him to second guess his actions, but instead spurs his attempt to gain greater control and greater independence as he rebuilds, alienating the natives in the same way he alienated America.

As the film enters its third act, and Allie’s extravagant plans have been reduced to the mere skeleton of a barge drifting on the river, an apt metaphor for his ailing mental state. His lust for control over the uncontrollable ultimately led to his sorry state of affairs, as even his loyal children begin to hate him. He has degraded to an psychotic wretch, devoid of reason and blindly pursuing his ideals endlessly, culminating in the arson of Spellgood’s church, and his own death. Even in his criminal insanity, however, one must remember that Allie’s lofty goals arose from a desire to make the world a better place for his family. “Allie is a complicated person, and it’s a complicated job for the audience to figure him out. He’s a good father and a bad father. He’s a monster, a clown, a fool, a genius.” (Pfeiffer 157) He cannot be classified as simply a deranged control freak, nor can he be considered a model father. There were many points for him to turn back and avoid continuing the doomed path he followed, but each time he took the idealized option, resulting in a greater and greater gamble each time that ultimately did greater harm to his family than that which he feared.