Binge Guide
The Mosquito Coast Star Justin Theroux Plucked Elements of His Antihero from Family, Including the Book s Author
Theroux s character, brilliant but exhausting contrarian Allie Fox, resembles members of his family, the actor says. He is “an amalgam of several people, including, more than he d like to admit, probably elements of my uncle Paul.”
Author Paul Theroux’s 1981 novel
The Mosquito Coast was meant to be an attack on Reagan-era economics and its views toward consumerism and the environment.
Told from the viewpoint of a 14-year-old boy trying to understand his father, we find the frequently failing, yet brilliant, inventor Allie Fox leading his family of four away from modern civilization and deeper into Central America. Then things get complicated. The 1986 film adaptation, which was directed by Peter Weir, written by Paul Schrader and starred a grimy, stubbly Harrison Ford in horn-rimmed glasses, came away with mostly favorable reviews and has 76% Toma