Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
When most people talk about “getting away from it all,” they might be pondering a trip to Hawaii or a nice Caribbean cruise. Or maybe, if they’re really adventurous, some time on a working dude ranch.
But Allie Fox and his fam take getting away to a whole new, and quite literal, level. Oh, sure, their version comes with some similarities. Allie is eyeing a tropical hotspot: somewhere in Central America, maybe, where no one can find them. He’d like to spend some time on a boat, too—his very own trawler, if they can scratch enough money together. And, yeah, he sure intends to work down there. He always does.
But when Allie “gets away” he never plans on coming back. Not unless the authorities catch him.
Allie and the United States have long had a strained relationship. Perhaps it’s because Allie is increasingly appalled by the country’s waste and consumerism. Maybe it’s because its government refuses to patent any of his amazing inventions. Perhaps it’s for other, potentially more felonious reasons.
Whatever the issues are, he and wife, Margot, have long been hopping around the country to keep ahead of the law. They’ve had six separate identities in nine years. And they’re always ready to take up a seventh—living off the grid; steering clear of the internet; and keeping their teen kids, Dina and Charlie, safely in sight.
This isn’t easy on Dina and Charlie, of course. Sure, Charlie idolizes his father: He sees the man as a genius, in fact—capable of turning fire into ice and powering the family’s vehicles with used cooking oil. But he sees the foreclosure notices, too. He hears the police sirens. He knows that there’s something not quite normal about their family.
Ya think? 15-year-old Dina might say. Oh, she knows her dad is smart. But she suspects he might be a little crazy, too. Plus, is it that out of line for a teenage girl to want a cell phone? Have a boyfriend? Go to school?
But family comes first. And when the police close in on them, the Foxes scamper away, leaving almost everything behind for a new life south of the border.
How far south? Well, we’ve yet to see. But Allie hopes that the lands closer to the equator may have use for one of his most spectacular inventions—a machine that makes ice through fire and vacuum pressure. It could revolutionize the way poor communities eat and store their food. And if he’s able to make it work, Allie just might get the recognition he feels he deserves—and stay alive long enough to enjoy it.
The Mosquito Coast landed on the literary scene in 1981 with Paul Theroux’s novel of the same name. Five years later, Harrison Ford starred in a movie based on the book. Now it’s on Apple TV+, with The Leftovers’ Justin Theroux starring as Allie Fox. (And yes, in case you’re curious, Justin is author Paul Theroux’s nephew.) And unlike the 1986 movie, the results are far from PG.
This is not to say that the Apple TV+ show is devoid of positives. While we don’t know exactly where the series will go, it gives us a surprisingly nuanced look at the Fox family. Yes, the decisions Allie and Margot make are extreme, and one can certainly argue with most of them. But Allie and Margot probably share some of the same concerns of many a homeschool family—and they love their children very much. They want to raise them in a way that conforms to the family’s values, not anyone else’s.
But a role model, Allie is not. It’s not long before we see just how many—and how many serious—laws Allie is willing to break or people he’s willing to hurt to pursue his idealistic end game. Also, Allie has taught his kids more than how to recycle cooking oil: He’s taught them all to swear up a blue streak, too. And the kids follow in other ways, too—breaking laws just like the Foxes they are.
The series hasn’t yet delved into any religious themes, and we can’t say for sure whether they will. But in the book, missionaries and, by extension, religion itself, are treated as corruptive influences—crowbars through which American consumerism gains entry to native people.
And then, of course, there’s the inherent irony of The Mosquito Coast—a show about a man who (in the words of rogerebert.com’s Nick Allen) “would rather die than have an Apple TV+ subscription.” It is hard to craft a convincing indictment of consumerism when you’re literally working with the biggest, richest corporation on the planet.
The Mosquito Coast certainly has some worthy elements in its mix. The acting is strong. The story can be sporadically gripping. But beware: This mosquito bites.
Allie Fox works menial jobs as he tinkers with his pie-in-the-sky inventions. But even as he tries to teach his son about the surprising uses of used cooking oil and keep his 15-year-daughter away from cell phones, he knows their time in this corner of America is coming to an end: The foreclosure notice he just received in the mail seals it.
When Allie’s wife, Margot, uses a pay phone to call her mother—the first time in years, perhaps, they’ve talked—the police quickly catch the scent, and the Foxes flee, leaving almost everything behind. But Dina (the 15-year-old daughter) leaves them, too—running away in an effort to shed her family’s abnormal ways. Allie tracks Dina to a bus depot, where they semi-reconcile. But the police are hot on their heels: Allie tells Dina to run and confronts the police to give her time to get away—even though it means likely giving up his own freedom. But when he’s hauled away in a police car, Dina rams the patrol vehicle with her father’s truck, smashes the window and pulls her father away. The collision leaves the three people in the squad car stunned, and one of the officers may be injured. (The other staggers out of the car, a bit bloodied but otherwise apparently unharmed.)
Allie gets Tasered in a confrontation with police. He throws a spike strip across the road, causing a couple of pursuers to spin out of control. (The passenger in the car tells the driver that he drives like someone trying to orally stimulate himself.) Allie slams doors and flings a grill after learning a patent was rejected. We hear that Margot’s dad broke his leg.
Dina has a boyfriend whom she secretly talks to via cell phone. (When Allie discovers the phone, he takes it, throws it out of his truck window as he’s driving, then stops and crushes a chip in the already broken phone.)
Characters, sometimes children, say the f-word nearly a dozen times. We also hear the s-word another four times, along with “a–” and “d–n.” God’s name is misused three times, twice with the word “d–n,” and Jesus’ name is abused thrice as well.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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