My father was an inventor.
A genius with anything mechanical.
Nine patents, six pending.
He dropped out of Harvard
"to get an education," he said.
I grew up with the belief...
... that the world belonged to him
and that everything he said was true.
Look around you.
How did America get this way?
Land of promise. Land of opportunity.
"Give us the wretched refuse
of your teaming shore."
Have a Coke! Watch TV.
Have a nice day.
Go on welfare.
Get free money.
Turn to crime. Crime pays in this country.
Why do they put up with it?
Why do they keep coming?
Look around you, Charlie.
This place is a toilet.
The whole damn country is turning
into a dope-taking, door-locking...
...ulcerated danger zone
of rabid scavengers...
...criminal millionaires and moral sneaks.
Nobody ever thinks
of leaving this country. I do.
I think about it every day.
I'm the last man.
I want an 8-foot length of rubber seal
with foam backing.
This country's going to the dogs.
Nobody cares.
"I just work here." That's the attitude.
Buy junk, sell junk, eat junk.
$3.99.
- Don't want it.
- That's what you asked for.
Who are you working for? The Japanese?
- If you don't want it, just say so.
- Just said so. Don't want it.
Look. Made in Japan.
I don't want my hard-earned...
...American dollars converted into yen.
I want an American length of rubber seal.
Do you work here?
All right, we'll get it someplace else.
This is not the only place in town.
Good-bye.
Or maybe I should have said, "Sayonara!"
I tell you, Charlie, I'm not goin' back
into Hatfield again.
I'm sick of dealing with people
who want things I've already rejected.
Things they see on TV.
They talk about nuclear destruction
as if it were a game show topic.
All winter, Father had been saying,
"There's going to be a war in America.
"It's coming," he said.
He was restless and talkative.
He said the signs were everywhere.
In the high prices, the bad tempers...
... the gut worry, and the stupidity
and greed of people.
Bloody crimes were being committed
in the cities...
... and the criminals were unpunished.
It wasn't going to be
an ordinary war, he said...
... but rather a war in which no side
was entirely innocent.
It's like a human's insides.
Entrails and vitals.
See, that's his digestive system.
Circulatory system.
Respiration. Lungs.
Fatty tissue. Kidneys.
The ammonia?
That's his plasma.
Got it?
But, Dad...
...what is it?
It's perfection. That's what it is.
Where is he, Mrs. Fox?
Mrs. Fox!
He's not here right now, Mr. Polski.
He had to go to Hatfield
to get a part for something.
I can see his truck, Mrs. Fox.
He's there fooling about in his workshop...
... when he should be rigging up
a cooling system in the barn!
I have asparagus rotting all over the place.
Now, you tell him to get down here
and now!
He was pretty mad.
Something about a cooling system.
Forget that. I got something much better
for him out there.
Honey, he's gonna love it.
I'm gonna knock his socks off.
I'm gonna straighten his hair.
Where you been?
About half a glass of water.
What is this?
Got a match, Doc?
You get here late, the asparagus is rotting,
and you ask me for a match?
If it wouldn't be too much trouble.
Mr. Fox.
Jerry, what's he doing?
He won't answer me.
I don't know.
Now he cooks a glass of water.
What is this thing? It looks like a stove.
My baby.
It's my baby boy.
Fat Boy. That's what we'll call it. Fat Boy.
- This is foolishness!
- Patience, Doc.
Please, I've got work to do.
Come on, Doc! Take a look.
Boy, ain't that something?
But how did I do it? Where's the juice?
Where's the electrical cord?
Kerosene.
I made ice out of fire.
Yes. So it seems.
Wanna see how it works?
No, no! Some other time. Here.
This is just a scale model.
I'm planning on building you
a huge one, Doc. What do you think?
What I think is...
...l'm in the asparagus business,
not the inventing business.
You're missin' the point, Doc.
I can preserve the excess
with Fat Boy here.
- With that thing? It's too small.
- I told you, this is a scale model!
And it's ingenious, Mr. Fox.
That's why I hired you.
But I also hired you to do
what I ask you to do.
To come up with a simple,
practical cooling system in the barn...
...and not fool around with crazy schemes
and go off in my time...
...inventing contraptions!
Now, please, to work!
What's this? It's not a rest period!
We have work to do.
Close that door. We'll lose all the cold.
He didn't like it very much, Dad.
He hated it. Positively hated it.
Absolute contempt.
But I'm glad of that.
That's what really gets me cookin'.
What would have happened if he liked it?
Then I really would've been worried.
Then I'd have gone back to bed.
What do you know?
We got a couple of minutes, okay?
All right. Here you go.
Migrant workers.
Polski's peons.
Right out of the jungle.
Didn't know when they were well off.
They think this is a paradise.
I'd trade places with them in a minute.
You know what they got down there?
Geothermal energy.
All the juice they need 5,000 feet
under the surface.
It's the earth's bellybutton.
Imagine the problems they have
in the jungle without refrigeration.
If they saw an ice cube
they'd probably think it was a...
...a diamond, or a jewel of some kind.
Ice...
...is civilization.
I want to show you boys something.
They call this place the "Monkey House."
- Who calls it that?
- Kids.
I'd whale the tar out of 'em.
Don't let me hear you call it that.
Look at this place. These are poor people.
Look at what they own.
Look at what they eat. They don't even eat
the asparagus they cut.
I don't think we should be here.
They welcome visitors, Son.
It's a custom from the jungle.
"Be kind to strangers. Never know
when you might be one yourself."
That's the law of the jungle.
But this isn't the jungle, Dad.
No? No, because no jungle
is as murderous and foul as this is.
They trade green trees for this ruin.
It's pathetic.
And it makes me mad...
...because they're going to end up
being part of the problem.
It would take courage to go there.
Go where?
The jungle.
Not ordinary gumption...
...but 4:00 in the morning courage.
And who's got that?
Thanks.
What is it?
I think something's going to happen.
Like what?
Something terrible.
When you're young, the world seems like
a big and a strange place.
If you think about it too much,
you start to worry.
But Dad's not young and he's worried.
He's always like that
before a new invention.
You know him. He's got a lot on his mind.
But something is going to happen.
Something good.
- Good night.
- Sleep tight.
- Hey, boys!
- Cornelius!
- Come here and give me a hand!
- Good morning. What that?
I got somethin' for ya.
You're gonna love this.
- Is that right?
- Yeah.
I need four men, two on each side.
Cornelius, grab that thing
with the wheels on it.
We're not allowed to go in.
What's going on in there?
Beats me.
We're not allowed to go in!
- Little Charlie's here!
- Your father great man!
He my father, too. We all his children.
Charlie, come here.
I want you to do something for me.
Take this and give it to Polski.
I'll take it, Dad. I'm dressed.
Charlie's the oldest. I want him to do it.
This is a historic occasion.
Sit down. Sit down there.
"Ever heard of the Mosquito Coast?
"I hope not because that's the reason
we're going there!
"See, I'm not only quitting this job
but also this sad ruin of a country.
"Good luck, Doc! You'll need it."
Charlie, your father is the worst kind
of pain in the neck.
A know-it-all who's sometimes right.
I've come to see he's a dangerous man.
You tell him that.
Tell him he's a dangerous man!
And one of these days,
he's going to get you all killed!
Daddy, you take a picture of me.
Don't waste film.
- Leave those.
- It's only the breakfast things.
- Leave them. We're getting out of here!
- I'll start loading things up, okay?
Mother! Come on.
- But what about all our books and things?
- If it's not in this pile, it's not going!
- Where are we going?
- Can I ride shotgun?
No. Put the bags in the back of the truck.
April, come on!
Don't put everything in the cab!
No, your mother's gonna ride up there.
- Hurry up, Mom!
- Go to the back seat, guys.
Girls, in the back.
- Can I ride in the back here?
- No, no! It's not safe.
"Under the bam
Under the boo
"Under the bamboo tree
"Two live as one
"One lives as two
"Two live as three
"Under the bam
Under the boo
"Under the bamboo tree"
Good-bye, America! And have a nice day!
- I'm Reverend Gurney Spellgood.
- Pleased to meet you.
- You can call me Gurney.
- Call me Brighton.
Jerry, sit down.
Mrs. Fox, I'm Captain Smalls.
Come on over here. I have a seat for you.
The sea around us. The earth beneath.
This night commit this food to thy keep.
Jeedoof.
- Amen.
- Amen.
We don't say prayers at home.
Captain first, Reverend.
"The last shall be first."
- No, "some."
- Pardon?
"Some of the last who will be first and
some of the first who will be last." Luke.
I was quoting Matthew.
You were misquoting Matthew.
Matthew says "many," not "some."
You certainly understand my mission,
Mr. Fox.
And a pretty good knowledge
of the Scriptures, too.
I've tinkered a bit with the Bible.
God's owner's handbook, isn't it?
Except it doesn't work.
So, this is your first visit to Mosquitia?
Actually it's more than a visit.
We're planning to stay.
Stay there?
Why would you want to?
That whole country's back
in the Stone Age.
Sounds perfect.
Mr. Fox!
There you are. I've got a gift for you.
It's the latest. The Blue Jeans Bible.
It was designed by a psychologist.
Look at this, kids. It's just what I've been
warning you about.
"Of making many books there is no end.
Much study is a weariness of the flesh."
Ecclesiastes.
"There are many rooms in
my Father's house, but I am the door."
Don't slam it on the way out.
May God forgive you.
Have a nice day.
Thank you. I will, Brother!
Hi.
It's a whole lot hotter than this
in the jungle.
- You've never been there, have you?
- No.
We're from Baltimore.
I study communication in school.
I hate school. It's so boring.
What's your favorite band?
Mine's The Executioners.
I love the lead guitarist. He is so cool.
He reminds me of James Dean.
Your father's a missionary.
You don't live in Baltimore.
Yes, we do.
My father has two churches. One's in
Guampu, and the other one is in Baltimore.
It's a drive-in.
What kind of drive-in?
There's only one kind.
You know, outdoors with cars.
Gosh, you're stupid.
So, what's your old man do?
My father's an inventor.
He invented this mechanical mop.
You sort of dance around with it.
It works by itself. You have to see it.
Weird.
My father's a genius.
Charlie.
Do you have a girlfriend?
No.
I could be your girlfriend, if you want.
I think about you
when I go to the bathroom.
Come here, honey.
"He's all right
What do you think about Jesus?
"He's all right
What do you think about Jesus?
"He's all right..."
Where's my bag?
Honey, look at this place! It's beautiful!
- Everybody ready?
- Yeah!
I think about you
when I go to the bathroom.
Jeedoof!
Jeedoof!
- Amen!
- Amen!
All right, Mother,
let's get this show on the road.
Come on, kids, let's go.
Everybody's got a long way to go.
Let's go!
Look at him, Charlie.
I love him when he's like that.
Happy hunting, Reverend.
Thank you very much, Mr. Fox,
and you, too.
- Look at all the boats.
- They're beautiful.
Hey, sweet peas, come to Papa.
The twins are asleep.
Tell her, Charlie.
- Dad bought a town.
- You're joking.
- Drunken German.
- He fell asleep.
Not before he signed this.
You're looking at the new mayor
of Jeronimo.
- You bought a town?
- A small town.
Where is it?
Jeronimo? Launches can't go up there.
Too shallow.
Well, Mr. Haddy,
we'll just have to experiment.
Experiment? Why you want to go
to Jeronimo?
We've bought it.
Ran out of room in America, Mr. Haddy.
Here, let me take the wheel.
It's against regulations.
- What regulations?
- It's my launch.
I steer. You passenger.
- Experiment.
- Haddy, you all right there?
There is no channel here.
Don't give up, Haddy. Right?
Stay back!
Stay back! No channel.
Keep looking.
Oh, my God. Mr. Haddy!
- You all right?
- Channel! Channel! Channel!
All right.
Can you get in all right?
"I don't own a VCR
And a house or a car
"And I got no color TV"
Hello!
Them Zambus.
Ask him where we are, Haddy.
It's Jeronimo.
This is it. Jeronimo!
Where?
Stay back there.
Give me room, Son.
Haddy, get ready on the bowline.
- Can we help you?
- I've been looking all over for you.
- Shall I get the luggage?
- Help Mother.
Now, don't run, boys.
Jerry, help me with this.
Careful, girls.
- Can we take our bags?
- No, no, leave them there.
- Can you see the town yet, Allie?
- Yes.
Perfect. It's perfect.
Everything we need is here. Right here.
Yes, yes.
Starting from scratch.
This is what I've always dreamed about.
Don't look at me that way, Mother.
This is our home.
This is life. This is not a vacation.
Can you see it, Charlie?
No, Dad.
Can you see it, Mother?
See what, Allie?
Why, a beautiful house.
Right in front of you.
Me no see no house.
This will do for the kitchen.
That could be the laundry and wash house.
Tie it all together with a platform
and put the sleeping quarters up above.
It's like the hub of a wheel
with the crops radiating out.
I smell a bit of a swamp back there.
We'll have to drain that.
Put a plant there, pump up river water
for the fish farm.
Slash and burn the area.
We have four or five acres
of good growing land.
Boy, have we got some work to do.
I don't want to hit you.
Perhaps if I hit them...
...and you take them out.
- Let me hold.
- Okay.
Okay, take that away, will you?
Dad, there's a big pile of cut wood here.
- Wood or lumber?
- Lumber.
Look, girls, look. Come and have a look.
These are wonderful treasures.
Look. Here. You take that.
Look at that. What a beauty.
Mother!
Where is she?
- It's all right, honey. It's all right.
- Leech attack all over this place.
- Some of them baboons bigger than man.
- Okay, Mr. Haddy, thank you.
Oh, my God.
Look at you.
Look at me?
Look at you.
What's that?
I miss my old home in America.
Me, too.
We all do. Now, who wants some orange?
No, thanks.
Nobody loves America more than I do,
you know.
That's why we left,
'cause I couldn't bare to watch.
You kids have got to understand this.
It's like when my mother died.
She'd been strong as an ox.
Fell down, broke her hip, went into
the hospital and caught double pneumonia.
She's laying in bed dying
and I went over and held her hand.
She looked up to me.
You know what she said?
"Why don't you give me some rat poison?"
I couldn't listen. I couldn't watch,
so I went away.
People said I was the height of callousness.
It's not true.
I loved her too much to watch her die.
I'm not here to boss you around.
I'm here to work for you.
And if I'm not working hard enough,
you just tell me and I'll work harder.
You just come up and say:
"Mister, you gotta do
a whole lot better than that."
And I will.
What do you want to do first?
Where do you want to begin?
You tell me.
Fish farm? Chicken run? Bridge?
What? You tell me.
Right. I heard that.
You want to begin with the planting.
That's sensible.
Take care of the animal needs first.
Come along, we've got it all worked out.
Go to your assigned row
according to the colors that...
...you were told about earlier.
These are pumpkin seeds.
About this deep, this far apart.
Jerry, corn for you.
- How are you doing, Charlie?
- All right, Dad.
Right now, someone in America
is pushing an electric squeezer...
...down a garbage disposal
and saying it's busted.
Someone else is opening
a can of chocolate-flavored soup...
...because the car wouldn't start to eat out.
They really wanted a cheeseburger.
- That for true, Father?
- That's right, Francis. That's why I'm here.
That's why I came.
It was not an easy life
those first weeks in Jeronimo.
It was no coconut kingdom of free food
and grass huts...
... and sunny days "under the bam,
under the boo."
Watch the strings, kids.
Good morning, ladies. Let's get up.
I need this tent out of the way.
Charlie, help your mother with the tent.
This was work and more work.
A routine that took up every daylight hour.
In Hatfield we had done pretty much
what we pleased.
Here things were different.
Have you got some flooring up there?
Charlie's supposed to have the flooring
up there for the men to work.
Let's get that lumber up here now.
It's an absolute sin to accept
the decadence of obsolescence.
Why do things get worse?
They don't have to. They could get better.
We accept that things fall apart,
but they don't have to.
Things will last forever.
We eat when we're not hungry,
drink when we're not thirsty.
We buy what we don't need
and throw away everything that's useful.
Why sell a man what he wants?
Sell him what he doesn't need.
Pretend he has eight legs,
two stomachs and money to burn.
It's wrong. Wrong! Wrong!
There are people in New York
who'd kill you for a quarter.
You don't dare take a walk for fear
somebody'll stick a knife in your ribs.
Stay home and they come in
through the windows.
Ten-year-old homicidal maniacs
on every corner.
They go to school.
They go to school.
You know what the biggest problem
with the 20th century is?
People can't stand to be alone.
Can't stand it.
Double-digit inflation
and a $2.00 loaf of bread.
Good.
Great. You're going to be my fish farmer,
Mr. McGregor.
- I think about it.
- Right. You think about it.
We'll breed all the fish we need to eat
right here. It'll be here when we need it.
Just scoop 'em up and put 'em in the pot.
We gotta get this cleared up.
Clear all this trash out of the water.
How am I doing, boy?
Fine, Dad.
Strictly speaking, there's no such thing
as invention, you know.
It's just magnifying what already exists.
Father often talked
of things being revealed.
That was true invention, he said.
Revealing something's use,
and magnifying it.
Discovering it's imperfections
and proving it...
... and putting it to work for you.
God had left the world incomplete, he said.
And it was man'sjob to understand
how it worked.
To tinker with it and to finish it.
I think that was why
he hated missionaries so much.
Because they taught people
to put up with their earthly burdens.
For Father there were no burdens
that couldn't be fitted...
... with a set of wheels or runners
or a system of pulleys.
- Look what we found.
- Can you help us?
- What have you got, girls?
- Can you fix it?
Yeah, I can get this going.
Don't just sit there, honey, pedal.
No need to worry about
these kids' education, Mother.
This is the education they need.
This is the kind of education
every American should have gotten.
When America's devastated
and laid to waste by nuclear holocaust...
...these are the skills
that are gonna save 'em.
Not finger painting or home economics,
or what is the capital of Texas...
...but survival!
Rebuilding a civilization
from a smoking ruin!
Experiment!
Hey, it's Mr. Haddy, Charlie!
Hey, kids. Good to see you!
How's everything?
They're going to be longer
'cause I'm gonna put cuffs on them, okay?
- Hello, Mr. Peaselee.
- Hello, ma'am.
Can I help you with something?
That is a nice yellow, isn't it?
I surely like this color.
Thank you.
Mr. Fox!
A very good morning to you.
Oh, God!
Well done, Foxes.
Well done.
Mrs. Kennywick...
...is that you?
Yes, sir, Father.
Now, we haven't seen you in God's house
in quite a while.
Jeedoof to you.
Jeedoof to you, Father.
What can we do for you, Reverend?
The word has spread upriver
of your doings.
I thought I'd come and have a look
for myself.
Mrs. Fox. How nice to see you.
- Hello.
- I love your parrot.
It's Arthur.
I brought some preserves from Aurora
specially for you.
Thank you. Will you thank her for me?
Papaya and yams, I believe.
- State your business, Reverend.
- It's the Lord's business I'm about, Mr. Fox.
Is that so? I didn't know the Lord
was franchising in the neighborhood.
The Reverend looks a little hot.
Perhaps some cold tea, Allie?
Mother.
The Lord sent me here, Mr. Fox.
That's what I love about you people,
your complete lack of presumption.
The Lord hasn't any idea this place exits!
If he did, he'd have done something
for these people a long time ago.
But he didn't! I did!
The river doesn't belong to you.
Nor to you! But this place belongs to me...
...and I didn't give you permission
to come ashore!
This man cannot speak for you, good folk!
The Lord is your Father!
I'm a fair man!
If any of you wanna go listen to this man
across the Jeronimo state line...
...I won't stop you! Any takers?
"And Pharaoh said...
"And Pharaoh said:
"'Who is the Lord
that I should obey his voice...
"'... and let you, Israel, go?
"'I know not the Lord...
"'... neither will I let Israel go!"'
Exodus 5.
Now, get off my land.
What Father had promised that first day
in Jeronimo...
... was now there for everyone to see.
It was all as he predicted...
... but more orderly and happier
than we had imagined.
He called this notch in thejungle
"a superior civilization."
"Just the way America might have been,"
he said.
When Mom and Dad come down,
on a count of three, we'll say:
"Happy Thanksgiving," okay?
One, two, three.
Happy Thanksgiving!
- Dad, you look nice.
- You look spackoid!
You look nice!
- You look funny.
- No, he doesn't! He looks nice!
- You look great, Mom!
- You look wonderful.
Have a seat, madam.
- This chicken looks great.
- This is the life!
You've made a wonderful meal.
Our first Thanksgiving in the new world.
- Let's eat!
- This looks really good.
- Can I have some white meat, Dad?
- After your mother. Right, honey?
White, please. Thank you.
The green beans look good.
Everything looks good.
Good-bye, honey.
Good-bye, Dad.
- 'Bye, everybody!
- 'Bye, Dad! See ya!
Are you ready? Come on!
The sandwiches!
They're in the basket!
Come on.
Mr. Haddy, one time,
he told us about this neat cave...
Let me lead the way. I know this jungle
like the back of my hand.
Okay, I'll help you.
Swing!
"Silent night
"Holy night
"All is calm
"All is bright..."
We have to buy our food here
at the camp store. See those nuts?
Gather them and we'll put 'em over here
and we'll use it as a bank.
Okay. Each one is $1.00 U.S.
- I want to buy some food.
- Do you have any money?
Leon got none.
Start diggin'!
I'll be the schoolteacher!
- Let's ask Dad to help when he gets back.
- No.
Dad wouldn't understand.
Don't tell Dad or anyone about Acre.
Why?
'Cause it's our secret.
No one else can know.
Your father can do magic.
It's not magic. It's science.
Science is worse!
You don't know that. My father could have
made a fortune being an inventor.
How come he ain't rich, then?
Because he wanted to come here
and build a town in the jungle, spackoid.
And he said there's gonna be
a nuclear war in America.
You're all wrong.
Father told everyone
he was making a monster.
"I'm Dr. Frankenstein," he used to say.
He called one set of pipes its "lungs"
and another its "poop shaft."
And two tanks, "a pair of kidneys."
He always spoke of the plant as "he."
"He needs a gizzard today."
Or, "This will fit straight onto his liver."
Or, "How's this for his gullet?"
Here, Mama, here!
I want you by my side. There's history
being made here this morning!
Expedition photographers?
Jerry, you got the camera?
Francis, you're in position?
I want you to light Fat Boy.
You're the youngest. You'll live longest
to remember this moment.
Drainy? Mr. Maywit...
We're taking a picture.
Everybody in, Drainy? All righty, smile.
You're waking up.
This is no miracle.
This is thermodynamics.
I hope we don't have
to rescue him, Mother.
It's all right. Allie knows what he's doing.
What that Father got there?
Haven't you ever seen a snowball before?
Ice from fire!
Francis!
That cold water, Father!
Bucky!
And air conditioning!
Cool down your house!
Get a decent night's sleep!
Increase productivity!
Ice is civilization!
That's why I'm here! That's why I came!
Okay, wait!
How many do you want?
Fat Boy looked like a miracle
to the local Zambus.
And a kind of ice market was established.
Everything for free.
But Father was restless.
It was all too easy now...
... and everyone was taking his ice
for granted.
Then Francis told him
about an Indian tribe...
... a half a day's march into the mountains.
People who had never seen missionaries
or anyone else...
... and they had certainly never seen ice.
These were the pure people
he had talked of in Hatfield.
Friendly savages who would see his ice...
... as ajewel, and be amazed.
Keep goin'.
Don't give up on me, boys.
Watch out!
Put it down if you have to! Put it down!
Okay, Charlie. Come up here.
Hold it up here. Hold it.
Come on up!
Hold it! Hold it, Francis.
Okay, get out of the way.
Don't get your legs underneath it.
Come on, Jerry!
Just over this ridge. It's all downhill.
What's the matter with you guys?
- We'll have to go home in the dark.
- Home?
We're not going anywhere
until we deliver this ice!
All right, we'll camp here. Put it down.
So, where are we gonna sleep?
Right over there.
Across the street. At the Holiday Inn!
You two kids can lounge by the pool
while I fix us up with a couple of rooms.
You want a king-size bed, don't you?
I know I do.
I sure hope there's a color TV.
Want a roll of quarters, Jerry,
for the jukebox? Play a few tunes?
I'm so sick of this whining from you!
Pull yourself together! Be a man!
Come on, Jerry. It's all right.
There goes Charlie to get a Fudgesicle.
Careful crossing the road.
I'm looking for some wood
to build a lean-to.
Hear that? Charlie's gonna show us
how to build a camp!
Charlie know how.
Put out the fire. You're melting my ice.
What are you looking at?
This is the first time since creation
that ice has ever melted here.
Think about that.
Come on!
Charlie, give me the bag.
I brought for you, present.
Present. Move slowly.
We're the first white men they've seen.
Don't do anything to scare 'em.
Present.
Wonderful, mysterious present.
Come here. Come, look. Look.
Look.
Wait till you see this.
Have a little patience.
I don't believe this.
This was ice.
Go away.
Have you got any idea how hard it is
to drag ice up from the river?
Go away.
We go, Father.
Don't blame me.
Have you ever seen ice?
Have you ever touched it?
Dad. There's a white man.
There's a white man in there.
Watch me. Watch my back.
Nice place you got here. Nice.
Living close to nature. I like that.
I like that.
My dad's an inventor,
and he invented this...
...this big ice machine and it makes ice.
Yeah, big pieces. Keeps it cool.
Ice can be used for a number of things.
Cool your water.
No, it'll keep your food from rotting.
Makes a great painkiller.
- It's really cooling.
- Keep you cool on a hot summer day.
Ice is civilization.
That's why he came
and that's why he's here.
Wonderful being here.
Thank you very much.
We'll be back. Come on, guys.
We'll bring you some ice!
- Gracias.
- We'll be back.
- Gracias.
- More ice!
Thank you.
'Bye.
Don't stop. Don't stop.
What were they doing?
Captured. Three guys, prisoners.
I offered to help spring 'em
but they got their own plan.
I told 'em to follow our trail to Jeronimo.
They thought we were missionaries.
What is it, Dad?
- I'm so glad you're back.
- Spellgood?
Ma Kennywick and the others
went with him.
- What happened?
- There wasn't anything I could do.
Spellgood was raving.
He was talking about hellfire.
- They were so frightened.
- Very angry at you, Father.
- They said we were communist.
- We're not communists, honey.
Very glad you're here, Father.
It's just jealousy and envy.
You build something up and people...
...come along and want to take it
away from you.
Who do that?
What? What, Francis?
- Men.
- Talk to me. Tell me what's going on.
- Ruckboos, Ruckboos.
- Where?
Calmly, Francis.
Three Ruckboos. Ruckboos. Three...
- Dad, what's wrong?
- I don't know.
Three! Three men. Guns.
I don't see anybody, Francis.
I must have drop these. Easy this time.
Three Ruckboos here.
Allie!
We didn't think we'd find you.
Where are your Zambus?
Gone. Saw your guns
and thought you were soldiers.
I didn't get a chance to tell them
you were friendly.
Probably dipping their arrows in poison
right now. Huh, Charlie?
Right.
Where are you going?
The coast is only a day from here.
I'll make you a map.
You can take the cayuka
which is down at the river.
Take it, it's yours. You'd like it there.
We like it here.
I wish there was some place for you
to stay, but we're...
...infested with ants.
They're in everything. We've gotta...
...tear everything down, burn it.
Charlie!
I told you to take Maywit's shack down.
Get a crowbar and get...
Don't run, don't run!
Take it down and stack it for burning.
I don't see any ants.
No, of course you don't.
If you could see them, you could kill them.
I've got a lot of work to do
and I'm not on vacation.
We'll look around.
No, take the cayuka. It's yours.
Take it. Go.
We'll look around.
Right, look around.
Look around all you want.
Me no see no ants, Father.
When I make a mistake, I make a good one.
I thought they were prisoners
of the Indians.
Are you gentlemen comfortable?
I mean, the reason I ask is,
I'm terribly sorry...
...but I'm going to have to ask you
to get up.
You see, war on the ants! Total war.
Charlie, bring up the chain saw.
All this furniture.
Mother, all these pads and things.
These should be boiled.
Get all the fabric up.
Get all this furniture. Excuse me.
Hold that for me, will ya?
Take this stuff off. All the furniture.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
Move outta here.
Get the crowbar.
- Do we have to burn every chair, Mom?
- Just put it on, Jerry.
- Do we burn Ma Kennywick's chair, too?
- Termites, darling, termites.
- She'll be very mad.
- I know, she'll be mad.
Everything's gotta go.
That's the only way to get rid of them.
Better not let Ma know.
Okay for all these things here?
I can't see them. Maybe they've gone.
They want some food.
Oh, God, are we stuck with them?
Stuck with them?
We're not stuck with anyone.
No one who has the slightest spark...
...has to endure a moment's oppression
in this world.
What are we gonna do?
Why do we have to sleep here
and not in our hammocks?
Because we've got guests tonight.
Now, you sleep tight, all right,
and I'll be in later on. Okay?
Night-night.
Excuse me.
Right, gentlemen.
Bunkhouse is ready.
Get your stuff together and we'll go.
What bunkhouse?
Well, it's not much.
Just the basic necessities.
But I'm sure you'll be comfortable.
Breakfast, 7:00 a.m.
Eggs and bacon all around.
I can't do this alone.
Get your shoes and follow me.
They're sleeping. You've got to climb up
to the roof and shove this...
...through the brackets on the access door.
You gotta be very, very quiet.
Can you do it?
I guess so.
You gotta be more sure than that.
You could get us all killed.
Can you do it?
Yeah, I can do it.
All right?
Don't pity those men, Charlie.
Don't pity this insect. That's not his blood.
That's my blood.
I gave them every chance to leave.
If they just lay down, they'll be all right.
They won't feel a thing.
In a few moments they'll be frozen solid.
Why are you making ice this time of night?
Quiet down, Haddy!
Everybody back in the house!
- What is it, Mom?
- Do what I say! Inside, all of you!
They should lay down.
They put a hole in him!
No.
Mother!
Get back inside! Back!
- Behind the tree!
- Get your heads down!
Gas!
Gas!
Run!
I'm so sorry.
I'm happy. We're free!
My launch!
Little Haddy.
She was all I had in the world.
What good is a boat without a river?
The river is there, Father.
It's full of ammonium hydroxide.
Contaminated.
If we stay here, we die.
Look, we're here!
- Look, the ocean!
- We're here!
I'm going in! I'll race you, Jerry.
Wait for me, Charlie.
Let's go!
My home, that way!
United States, that way!
Let's go home! Let's go home!
Let's go home! Let's go home!
Clover, Apri! Let's go home.
We can go home!
Everything we need is here!
Right here! We can live simply.
Gardening, fishing...
...beach combing.
I'm a changed man, Mother.
No more chemicals or poisons.
If what you want isn't washed up
on the beach, you probably don't need it.
We could take that pipanto
up the coast to Mosquitia.
We could walk down the beach to Panama.
Or we could walk up the beach
to Cape Cod.
Yeah! Let's go to Cape Cod!
Can we go, Dad?
No! No!
We cannot go back!
Why?
Because it's not there anymore.
America's not there anymore.
What are you talking about?
A cataclysm. A blinding flash.
The end of that world.
No, darling, that was Jeronimo.
No, no. I'm talking about
the United States of America.
Millions of Americans burned to a crisp.
The flesh just melted off their bones.
Why are you doing this to us?
I'm not doing anything.
I'm our salvation. I rescued us.
Is America really blown away?
Did they have a nuclear war up there?
Mom.
No. It's all right, darlings. He's just joking.
It's just a joke.
Some joke.
Me can't take your Omega, Father.
I got no use for it anymore.
You take it.
You've been a good friend to us.
Experience!
But you'd like my place,
just down the coast.
They're my family.
No, Haddy.
If it's on a map, I can't use it.
I knew Father had lied to us
about America being blown up.
That lie made me feel lonelier
than I had ever felt before.
I wanted to take hold of him...
... to tell him I loved him and would stay
and work beside him forever...
... if only he would take back the lie.
Mom, how long are we gonna be here?
Has Hatfield and Mr. Polski
and our chickens and all America...
...been blown up?
If it has, then we're the luckiest people
on earth, aren't we?
What if it hasn't?
Then we're making a terrible mistake.
Somehow, we found what we needed.
We built a latrine and a hut
and planted a vegetable garden.
Father's hut was like a small barge.
He took care to make it waterproof...
... tarring its cracks to seal it
from the rats and moisture.
He found an old outboard
and took the motor apart...
... cleaning it piece by piece.
Father was fond of saying that in the end,
Robinson Crusoe went back home.
But we were staying.
It's Mr. Haddy.
Greetings.
Hi, how are you?
Hello, baby, hello.
Haddy, what a surprise.
This is a very different kind of experiment.
Very different.
It doesn't look like much
at the moment, but...
...we have great plans. You know Allie.
I bring you some turtle meat
and some food.
Why? Do I look hungry?
Thanks a lot, Haddy.
That motor don't have no sparks.
I bring you some sparkin' gas
the next time.
Don't want it.
How is that?
Because I don't need your charity.
You're too close to the water.
It's over there.
Gonna be up here when rain come.
We gonna get some storm.
Gonna cover all over the junk pile there.
Who made that trash pile?
Monkeys do that?
Tell us how you lost your watch.
I swapped it for my new boat.
A sailboat. You want to see?
No.
I call her Omega like the watch.
She is a pretty thing.
I had that watch 15 years.
It's 3:00, 3:30.
You just gave it away.
I thought you approved
of that kind of thing.
Haddy, can't you see?
We've got work to do here.
You're in trouble here, Father.
Rain gonna wash the experiment
out to sea.
Ma and the kids could come to Brewer's.
Good for the family there.
He's telling me it's too dangerous here.
This savage is telling me...
Don't talk to Mr. Haddy like that.
We live here. Get that?
This is a pioneering effort.
I want to go with Mr. Haddy.
What?
Speak up, Jerry.
I said I wanted to go with Mr. Haddy.
Okay, fine. Drop what you're doing,
pack up and get out.
But don't come back. Ever.
Never. That's policy.
See what you've gone and done?
Good.
You've got no vision, have you?
None at all.
You can't see. This is gonna be
a thriving village someday...
...living in harmony with nature.
That's my vision.
And anyone without vision
has no place here.
Anyone.
He didn't mean it.
I hate him. I wish he was dead.
Haddy.
You won't tell Father I come.
Sparks and gas for Father's outboard.
What will I tell him?
Tell him you found 'em.
Don't mention Haddy.
You gonna drown without the outboard.
There gonna be water everywhere.
You hear, Charlie?
God be with you.
Charlie, latch the twins to the frame.
Oh, my God!
Don't worry, Mother. It'll float!
Get back inside! I'll get a line to the shore.
- Get inside!
- Stay with the kids!
Hold on!
Hold on to me!
Everybody hold together!
Hold on!
We're floating out to sea!
Oh, God!
I found them last week.
I've got control!
Haddy's.
We could go downstream to Haddy's.
No! Dead things go downstream, Mother.
Life is upstream!
Mother, don't give 'em too much coconut.
Light rations.
Don't know when we'll eat next.
Damn it.
Shear pin's gone.
Prop's gone to the bottom. Boys!
Come here with your poles.
Get a reference on the shore.
Hold it where we are!
Where is he?
He's been down a long time.
- He's gone.
- Jerry, can you see him?
He's somewhere.
He has to be somewhere.
Dad, come on.
Well, I don't see him.
Dad!
Where are you, Dad?
I can't stand this!
We'll be all right. We'll be all right.
We'll be all right.
We can go downstream
and find Mr. Haddy.
Jerry's right. Let's go! Let's turn around.
Right, let's get outta here!
Traitors.
As punishment, Jerry and I were towed
behind the houseboat.
Father sat at the end of the towline,
his back to us.
I hated his shoulders, his greasy hair,
the slant of his spine.
I imagined how it would be to stick a knife
in it, just below his ragged collar.
Yes, it's punishment.
Necessary punishment.
No, it's not. Now you bring those children
back onboard!
Are you in charge now, Mother?
If you are, just say so.
Can you survive in this jungle?
Can you get us out of here?
- If so, where would you go?
- I'd go to Brewer's, to Mr. Haddy's.
And live like a savage?
I'd really rather die.
There's no shame to be the last to go.
It just proves my point.
I'm doing this for all of us.
I'm doing this for you.
I wish I could kill him.
He wouldn't be so hard to kill.
Sneak up, hit him with a hammer!
Be quiet!
Stop talking like that.
You're thinking it, too.
No, I'm not!
You can just stop talking like that.
I wish he were dead!
Be quiet, okay?
Just be quiet.
I'm sorry.
Beautiful country, eh, Mother?
We could live anywhere around here.
Live like kings.
I know what you're thinking.
You're thinking it's better upstream.
Are those angels, Mommy?
"Blessed Jesus
"Blessed Jesus
"Thou has God as thy reward"
They're missionaries! They could help us.
We don't need help!
Look at us!
Well done, choir! Well done!
Welcome in Jeedoof.
Spellgood.
We'll see about this!
What will you do?
I'm gonna knock his block off!
That's what I'm gonna do!
Look!
Barbed wire.
A Christian concentration camp.
They have a backboard!
They play basketball!
They have real houses.
Look at these toys!
Can we play with them?
... you could be here today.
Now, brothers and sisters...
... we all know the story of Gideon...
... how in his hour of darkness...
... he called upon God...
... to help spite his enemies.
Then, he blew his trumpet...
... and...
... that was that!
He called on God.
Just as simple as making a telephone call.
Now, I want you...
... to think of prayer as beingjust as simple
as making a telephone call.
Hello?
God? It's Gurney.
I was calling you because...
Hello?
Look at them. The Maywits.
- Sometimes...
- Brainwashed.
... the line is cut.
What do you do when the line is cut?
You ring again!
God? It's me again.
Now, I do have a little problem.
Well, yeah...
I know you're very busy...
Back to the boat.
Hey, kids. Okay, settle down!
We're all tired, okay?
I want to watch TV.
I want to watch my show now!
Emily!
It's me, Charlie Fox and Jerry.
What are you doing here?
We're goin' upriver.
This is weird. My dad said you were
hanging out with Zambus...
...and running around nude-o
and climbing trees.
What happened to you?
You look disgusting!
You got smaller.
Your hair's gross.
Is America okay?
Baltimore's freaky now.
They closed Dad's drive-in church.
Was there a war?
Are you nuts or something?
My father said America was blown up.
Nobody left but us.
That's stupid.
It all went up in flames.
That's what he told us.
I thought my dad was weird.
- He was lying to us all the time!
- Be quiet!
It's the generator. It happens all the time.
It must be out of gas.
Come here.
Generator!
It's okay. It's all right. It's okay.
It's okay, really.
Emily, we're in trouble.
Will you help us?
Where have you been?
- Where's Dad?
- I thought he was with you.
He lied to us, Mom. America's still there.
Oh, baby.
- Mother, I'm leaving.
- So am I.
- What do you mean?
- The Spellgoods have a jeep.
Emily gave me the keys. Let's go.
You mean, leave Dad behind? No!
- Mother, please!
- No.
Please, listen to me.
This might be your last chance.
Let's get the twins and let's get out of here
before he tries to stop us.
No.
No, I can't.
- Please!
- Tomorrow'll be too late!
- Please.
- I can't.
Allie.
Father, Father! TV's on fire!
Charlie, get the twins.
Wake up, come on! Wake up!
It's all right, girls. Come on, sweetheart.
It's all right. It's all right. Don't worry.
We're just going...
Don't worry. I got some gas.
I guess I must have spilled some.
Start the generators! Get the hoses going!
Communists.
Charlie, let go of the bowline.
We're getting out of here.
Dad.
What?
We're not going with you.
What?
You're a liar.
- Charlie's got a plan. Listen to him.
- Don't you turn against me, Mother.
Allie, you're killing us!
You've always been against me.
You're no better than these kids!
I'm sorry.
- Come on.
- No.
Come on, let's get off the boat.
Mother!
It's all right.
It's all right, my darling.
It's all right.
Gurney, we got the pump on!
You see what that says over that door?
It says, "Hallelujah!"
How am I doing, Son?
Fine, Dad.
I can't move. Just my head.
You'll get better.
Man sprang from a faulty world, Charlie.
It's a bad design, the human body.
The skin's not thick enough.
Too little hair, no claws or fangs.
We weren't meant to stand upright.
It exposes our heart and genitals.
Should be on all fours.
Hairier with tails.
Look at me. Yes, sir.
I'm going to be on all fours from now on.
I don't want Dad to die.
I know that. I know.
Nature's crooked.
I wanted right angles...
...straight lines.
You cut yourself opening a can of tuna
and you die.
Are we still going upriver, Mother?
Yes, darling.
Once I had believed in Father...
... and the world had seemed small and old.
Now he was gone and I wasn't afraid
to love him anymore.
And the world seemed limitless.