CAPTAIN FANTASTIC – Review

Credit: Erik Simkins / Bleecker Street

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC may sound like the title of comic book movie but this warm, thoughtful film centers on a different kind of hero, a father who has devoted his life to his children. He is indeed a fantastic father, even if his ideas about how to raise his kids is far out of the mainstream, something which comes to the fore when his family faces a life-altering crisis. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC is an emotionally moving film that mixes drama and a bit of humor in a touching story of an unconventional family who have to work through their grief to find a new way to interact with conventional society.

Viggo Mortensen turns in a wonderful performance as that father, Ben Cash. Ben and his wife Leslie (Trin Miller) chose to leave prosperous conventional lives behind to raise their six children in a counter-culture utopia off the grid – way off the grid. Living deep in the woods of Washington state, the family is essentially camping out – no electricity, no running water, no phones. The children’s lives are built around physical fitness, self-reliance, family unity, and education. Dad is a bit of a control freak who keeps them on a rigid fitness schedule but also gives the kids a first-rate education. Assigning challenging reading in classic literature, science, history, he testing them on their knowledge and understand, forcing them to develop critical thinking skills.

As the film puts it, the parents are “creating paradise out of Plato.” Actually, it is a bit more Noam Chomsky,  the linguist/humanist hero of the political left, whose birthday the family celebrates instead of Christmas. The family embraces values such as self-reliance, thinking skills, family togetherness and education, but rejects both religion and consumerism.

The film opens with a coming-of-age ritual Ben has created for his oldest son Bodevan (George McKay), in which the boy dispatches a deer he tracked using only a knife. There is a kind of primitive, cave-man like aspect to the scene, which is reinforced by following scenes of Dad drilling the kids in exercise and survival skills, with Dad as drill sergeant/dictator. The warmer side of their relationship with their father emerges as they gather to read, discuss home-schooling assignments, upcoming tests and finally to play some music. The sense of family warmth is strong, even if Dad is clearly in charge.

However, the orderly routine of this wilderness family comes to an abrupt halt with the death of Cash’s wife, who had developed bipolar disorder and had to be hospitalized in a city near her parents. Her suicide plunges the family deeply into grief but it also means they will have to deal with the outside world. Stepping outside their insular wilderness utopia brings a host of challenges for both the children and their father.

It is no easy thing to present a family this unusual without falling into stereotypes or judgments, but director Matt Ross handles that task with skill. The film presents this family’s extreme lifestyle in a fair and even-handed way, showing its strengths and drawbacks. The parents’ choice, made out of the best intentions for their children, has made the children well-educated, physically fit and confident, but they are also socially isolated, and so culturally far apart from mainstream culture that they can hardly talk to others kids.

Traveling to their grandparents’ home for their mother’s funeral, aboard the family bus, the kids confront a host of new situations. The affluent grandparents, Jack (Frank Langella) and Abigail (Ann Dowd), disapprove of the lifestyle their daughter and her husband have chosen. Jack actually ask Ben not to come to the funeral, although Abigail would clearly like to see her grandchildren. Initially, Ben intends to honor Jack’s request, since he does not want to face “civilization” anyway, but under pressure from the kids, he decided they will make the long trip.

A stop to visit with Ben’s sister Harper (Kathryn Hahn), her husband Dave (Steve Zahn) and their two video-game obsessed sons, gives room for some family fireworks and a little comic culture clash. Meeting with Leslie’s parents, who live in a lavish home on a golf course, brings more clashes of feelings and ideas.

Confronting his father-in-law brings unresolved tensions to the surface for Ben, but the film handles the situation with remarkable skill and nuance, allowing each character to be himself yet exploring complex emotions. Ben’s rebel personality goes head-to-head with Jack’s stern authority, which creates both heart-breaking drama and some absurdist comedy. Mortensen and Langella give outstanding performances, and director Ross handles their relationship with remarkable skill.

Mortensen’s character is the central focus of the story, and he gives a standout performance as this bearded, prickly but devoted father, a performance likely to garner some awards nominations. But other good performances dot the film. In lesser hands, Langella’s character could have been a one-note villain but the actor finds the layers and complexity in the role. The children are all charmers and add greatly to the film’s appeal. McKay is very good as the sincere but slightly awkward oldest son, and has a wonderful comic bit in an awkward romantic bit with a girl he meets in a campground where the family stops for the night. The red-haired older daughters, Kielyr (Samantha Isler) and Vespyr (Annalise Basso), are a bit like the girl from the animated film “Brave” come to life – resourceful, skilled, active, and completely charming. As the most rebellious son Rellian, Nicholas Hamilton adds a needed dissenting voice to the otherwise unified family. The littlest ones, Zaja (Shree Crooks) and Nai (Charlie Shotwell) provide plenty of cute, comic moments.

Ben is grieving his wife, and the loss of their shared dream for raising their family. Faced with inevitable change, Ben must decide if he can set aside his own ego to try to do what is best for his children.

The film keeps you guessing about exactly how it is all going to work out but reaches a satisfying ending. Not every detail in the film makes perfect sense, but the film’s big heartedness and the actors’ convincing relationships and the family affection makes it easy to overlook those minor flaws.

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC opens in St. Louis Friday, July 22nd

RATING: 4 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS