In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, cha... Read allIn the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
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*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Viggo Mortensen plays Ben, a father of six who is raising his children in a forest somewhere in the Northwest. Sectioned off from the real world, Ben teaches his children the education he feels they need and he also puts them through a physical training that has them extremely fit. After the suicide of his wife and their mother, the seven hop on their bus and head towards the funeral.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC is certainly one of the better movies of 2016 and you could argue that it presents an extremely interesting and highly entertaining look at various social issues going on. Most people would look at this family and call them complete weirdos because of the way they live. Living in the woods. Hunting for your own food. No internet. No television. Basically they live like people used to before the world went a little mad. Director-writer Matt Ross really paints quite an entertaining picture of this family living off the grid yet it seems they have the most important things down pat.
I was really surprised at this film because it works on so many levels. I guess the simplest thing to say is that this film and the family in it perfectly capture life as there are many highs and lows here as well as many laughs, many fights, many great times and certainly many bad. At times the film works as a perfect comedy and at other times it's the perfect family drama. I was really impressed at how the director managed to make all of these emotions work so well off one another and it really did make for a complete picture.
All six of the actors playing the kids do a remarkable job and we get other great supporting performances including the ones by Steve Zahn and Frank Langella. Langella deserves a lot of credit because he really plays quite the jerk here yet he does so in such a fashion to where you can see and feel where he is coming from and understand the character. With that said, there's no question that it's Mortensen who is the star of the picture and he easily steals it. This is such a deep and complex character that you really did need someone like Mortensen to make it work. This is especially true since the actor can pull off the hippie side of this character so well but he also nails the dramatic side as well as the side of being a father and realizing that you might have messed up along the way.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC is certainly an original picture, which isn't something that happens too often these days. We've seen movies about strange families before but this one really hits all the right notes.
We are first introduced to Ben (Viggo Mortensen) and his six kids as they are stalking a deer while deep in the Pacific Northwest forest only this isn't your buddy's weekend deer hunting trip. Each family member is covered head-to-toe in mud and other means of camouflage, and the oldest son Bodevan (George MacKay) takes the lead with his knife in what is presented as a rite of passage into manhood.
The family carries out a daily ritual that includes extreme physical conditioning, lessons on survival and living off the land, and advanced education that includes reading such diverse material as Dostoevsky and Lolita. Each evening is capped off with an impromptu musical jam. It's evident that self-sufficiency, intelligence and family loyalty are crucial to Ben's approach an approach that is challenged when circumstances require the family board their Partridge Family bus (named Steve) and take a cross-country road trip into a civilization that doesn't know what to make of them (and vice-versa).
The film is jam-packed with social commentary on education, parenting, societal norms, societal influences, and even grief. Who gets to decide what is best for a family or what's the best method for education? Sometimes the dysfunctional family isn't so easy to identify. Director Ross proves this in a gem of a dinner table scene as Ben and the kids visit Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn and their two sons in suburbia.
In addition to the terrific performance by up-and-comer George MacKay, the other actors playing the kids are all very strong and believable: Samantha Isler as Kieyler, Annalise Basso as Vespyr, Nicholas Hamilton as Rellian, Shree Crooks as Zaja, and Charlie Shotwell as Nai. Screen vets Frank Langella and Ann Dowd bring presence to the role of their grandparents and provide the greatest contrast to the off-the-grid existence of the kids.
Viggo Mortensen truly shines here and gives a performance full of grace and depth as he displays many emotions (some of which aren't so pleasant). He even goes full-Viggo for one of the film's many humorous moments though the comedy is balanced by plenty of full scale drama. His best work comes in the scenes when he begins to question that there may be some flaws in his plan the moments of self-realization are stunning.
Many will note some similarities between this film and Little Miss Sunshine (2006), though this one carries quite a bit more heft. It's beautifully photographed by cinematographer Stephane Fontaine (A Prophet, Rust and Bone) and captures the danger and solitude of the forest, while also capturing the more personal family dynamics. It's a film that should generate plenty of discussion, and one of the questions is will Noam Chomsky Day ever match Festivus in popularity?
Perhaps if I were younger, with a more absolutist worldview, I'd have been able to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy this film without reservation. But it fell flat for me in a number of ways.
First, there are too many things that don't add up, from having a magically fueled bus available at all times despite a lack of that terrible capitalist green stuff to a balanced and varied diet supportive of an extreme training regimen even though living as hunters and gatherers without taking the time or energy to cultivate crops. Everyone manages to stay clean and well dressed despite a lack of electricity or running water. The children are educated to be philosopher-scholars, musicians, theoretical physicists, linguists, endurance athletes and survivalists (all at the same time, as if any one of these challenges would not be a full time endeavor reserved for ones of special gifts and talents) while handling every aspect of their fully self-sufficient lives in their idyllic nature preserve. It's never explained how the family manages to purchase a huge tract of old growth forest or manages to squat without consequence on public land.
Setting aside all of that, I found the political/philosophical point of view of the film heavy handed to say the least. The father inculcates the children with his westernized quasi-Buddhist spiritual philosophy and Marxist ideals; fine. But the film seems intent on antagonizing everyone who doesn't share such views -- though the themes are softened here and there, I guess in an effort to make it seem more open-minded and, thus, palatable to a broader audience.
Personally, though not a Christian, I see no need to belittle and offend those who are. While projecting a supposedly tolerant and nuanced worldview, with some tips of the cap to broad-mindedness as the father realizes he's been perhaps a tad extreme, the film is actually quite intolerant and demeaning of conventional values. Why, for example, is it a good thing to educate the children on how to steal? I've no issue with a nudist lifestyle and have in fact spent time on nude beaches, so I have an understanding of the ways in which removing clothing can strip away pretensions and leave people open and vulnerable in good ways. At the same time, is inflicting one's nudist philosophy on others a good thing? It's also worth pointing out that among the most extreme of contemporary fundamentalists, Wahabi Muslims have this habit of bulldozing the shrines of Sufi Muslims and erecting public toilets in their place as a means to belittle and humiliate. This film, which tries to embody themes that are open and tolerant, in a very real way commits the same offense as the Muslim extremists of Saudi Arabia with a gratuitous scene set in a public toilet.
At the end of the day, for all the messages the film seems to want to carry, it's really a rather thin and hypocritical gruel, blind to the irony of its own intolerance, offering little of lasting value (except a nicely nuanced nutshell review of the Nabikov novel "Lolita").
I've still given the film six stars because it's well crafted and for its efforts to be thought provoking. Those are laudable goals even if the effort ultimately falls far short.
Did you know
- TriviaGeorge MacKay practiced yoga 3-4 hours a day once he was cast as Bo so he could do the advanced poses he did in the film. He said it was the toughest part of the shoot for him.
- GoofsA body cannot be cremated into "flush-able" ash from a fire. It does not get hot enough. Even in a proper crematory, the bones have to be ground up to be unrecognizable.
- Quotes
Ben: When you have sex with a woman, be gentle and listen to her. Treat her with respect and dignity even if you don't love her.
Bo: I know.
Ben: Always tell the truth. Always take the high road.
Bo: I know.
Ben: Live each day like it could be your last. Drink it in. Be adventurous, be bold, but savor it. It goes fast.
Bo: I know.
Ben: Don't die.
Bo: I won't.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies You Missed this Summer (2016) (2016)
- SoundtracksEl Hilo De Ariadna
Written by Viggo Mortensen and George MacKay
Performed by Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks and Charlie Shotwell
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Capitán Fantástico
- Filming locations
- Deception Pass State Park, Washington, USA(funeral pyre erected at Rosario Head)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,879,835
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $93,824
- Jul 10, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $23,149,206
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1