Justin Theroux escapes to Mexico in trailer for Apple TV Plus drama The Mosquito Coast
TV Features Justin Theroux
“The Leftovers should have won an Emmy!” hive rejoice. Justin Theroux is returning to his dramatic side with new Apple TV+ drama, The Mosquito Coast. It’s based on the 1981 best selling novel of the same name written by his uncle, Paul Theroux. The seven-episode series will follow Allie Fox (Theroux), an idealist and brilliant inventor, who uproots his entire family and goes on the run with them to Mexico because the U.S. government is after him.
The book was first adapted into a movie in 1986 starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren but the Apple TV+ original will narratively navigate from the flick. It also stars Melissa George, Logan Polish, Gabriel Bateman, and Kimberly Elise. The series will make its debut on April 30 with two episodes, followed by a new episode every week. Check out the trailer below.
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The film was directed by Peter Weir, right after he and Ford made magic together with Witness. It doesn’t seem to have had the same impact (probably because a lot of people weren’t prepared to see Han Solo as such a jerk at the time) but it’s well worth checking out.
I remember stumbling upon the film as a kid, when I only knew Ford as “Indy” or “Han Solo” and being really confused/uncomfortable.
I love that movie. But yes, Han/Indiana (Handiana Jonelo) as a deranged, abusive asshole was hard to swallow as a kid. It’s not a movie that many people talk about or seemingly remember. I hadn’t seen it in years and found the DVD at a thrift store. I didn’t remember Helen Mirren being in it – though I had no idea who she was when I was a kid. I’m glad I watched it – I’d would watch anything on HBO as a kid. It also works as a companion piece to the River Phoenix starring Running on Empty – which was also about an unconventional family, and which also featured Martha Plimpton as a love interest.
Love both of those movies and I watched them repeatedly in the 80’s/90’s. Mostly because my sister had a crush on River Phoenix (can’t blame her). Also Martha Plimpton is a treasure in everything.
I watched Regarding Henry as a kid because Han Solo was in it.
Running on Empty is a gem of a movie.
Absolutely. I watched it recently and it is just as heartwrenching and wonderful as the first time I saw it. Christine Lahti is astounding, as is River Phoenix. And you can never go wrong with Martha Plimpton.
It’s arguably the best Heart of Darkness movie ever made.
Without the Google check, I remember this also being a film where Ford went a little cuckoo.
Say hi to Ted for us, Justin!
Ted was just in Cancun shooting for Atlas Shrugged Again, but once again, the liberal media is intent on canceling conservative actors and movies.
That trailer seems to bear no resemblance to the book at all! I guess there is an American family of four abroad … but that’s about it.
If this show doesn’t have a Martha Plimpton “I think about you when I go to the bathroom” callback, I’m not interested.
What does “narratively navigate from the flick” mean?
I’m guessing they meant “diverge”. The plot summary there doesn’t match either the movie or the novel— Allie Fox wasn’t “on the run from the U.S. government”; he was a crank with doomsday-prepper tendencies who one day just decided “the U.S. is fucked, and I’m the last rational man so everyone’s against me, so I’ll take my family to Central America and start my own tiny society.” But it could also be that the summary is wrong and the adaptation doesn’t actually mean for us to take Fox’s delusions of grandeur literally.
“Narratively navigate” is what you type when you mean “deviate” but you’re drunk.
(Oops – replied to the wrong thread)
You use GPS to steer the series to a new direction.
Justin & Melissa were last together in Mulholland Dr. ( Though barely on screen together IIRC.) If you have not seen it, it is a mind-f of a movie. Lynch out did himself I think. A must.I was going to complain about another unneccessary remake. Still sort of think that, but since it’s written by his uncle, I sort of get it.
THIS IS THE GIRL
It’s gonna be hard to match Ford’s performance, for sure. I’ve always loved showing people that movie. It’s got that great “Into the Wild” kind of thing where you totally get seduced by all of the freedom talk and then have to accompany the characters as it all comes crashing down on them. Plus, Harrison Ford’s interactions with the missionary alone are worth the price of admission. He really weaponized his charm for that role to a degree that he never quite attempted again. At least not with that level of frenzied darkness. Love it. Psyched to see it attempted again, but like I said, it’s a tall order. Then again, Justin Theroux probably literally owns the rights to it, so if anybody was going to make the plunge, it’s him. He’s definitely a strong enough and charming enough actor for the material. We shall see. Looks good so far.
River 😢
I read the Paul Theroux novel when it was published and thought it was a terrific read, one of the few novels that has stayed with me through the decades. I was already a Peter Weir fan from “The Last Wave” and “Picnic at Hanging Rock” as well as (to a lesser degree) “The Year of Living Dangerously” and thought he was the perfect director with what seemed at the time a pitch perfect cast. Yet, I found the film oddly flat and uninvolving. While it’s possible the movie on the screen didn’t live up to the one I’d already seen in my head, I’ve always felt it confirmed the feeling I’d had after “Witness,” that Weir’s move to Hollywood had sapped his quicksilver-like muse. He made some watchable enough movies after this but nothing that ever lived up to his early potential. I have zero hopes for this new effort but by all means, though, read the book.
My favorite surprise scene in the movie is George Costanza as the hardware store clerk many years before Seinfeld (the TV show) was even conceived of.