Captain Fantastic (2016)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Captain Fantastic (2016) – M. Ross

The temptation to drop out of society runs strong in the US (see also Sean Penn’s excellent Into the Wild, 2007) – and who could blame ‘em? Here we find Viggo Mortensen raising his six children in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and who wouldn’t cheer his efforts to strengthen their bodies and minds while avoiding the contamination of capitalism, organized religion, and junk food? The film isn’t called “Captain Fantastic” for nothing!  But Matt Ross’s script (he also directed) gradually forces viewers to confront the possibility that this Super-Dad is actually doing his kids harm by keeping them away from the social world they will eventually have to live in (and exposing them to the truth of adult concepts too soon).  But I’m not so sure – is it either or?  Do we have to endorse the version of reality put forth by Frank Langella (capitalist Christian Grandpa) if we accept the premise that Chomsky-loving Viggo might be over-the-top?  Isn’t there a happy medium? (The film seems to conclude that there is – but this outcome seems as much a fantasy – or cop out -- as the extreme outdoors approach taken earlier; how exactly are they supporting themselves?).  Viggo did have a raison d’etre of sorts – his wife had bipolar disorder and he thought living in the woods would help her (but it did not).  The six child actors acquit themselves admirably and almost without any cringeworthy moments (save only for their rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine at the “funeral”, now a cliché, but one that did remind me of a long-departed dear friend). The film itself is fun and, although balanced precariously on just some exaggerated representations of deeper worldviews, it does succeed as a more thought-provoking version of the usual Hollywood entertainment.  I just wish that Matt Ross would have seen fit to show Viggo (or his kids) having an influence on the larger society (or at least Langella) rather than simply depicting their assimilation – but I guess that would be truly fantastical.