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| Captain Fantastic - It's not a comedy, it's about finding balance. |
Written by: Matt Ross
Directed by: Matt Ross
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Steve Zahn, Frank Langella
Rated: R
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!
Plot
Ben and his six children are forced to leave the secluded forest where they've lived off the grid in isolation to attend his wife's funeral.
Verdict
This movie is not just a criticism of how most of us live life as capitalist pigs, but it asks everyone to analyze and question your life because finding balance is important.
You can ask if Ben was a good father, but this movie is trying to do much more than that. He's certainly flawed and maybe even misguided, but he loves his children and wanted to create a better life for them.
Few movies make you think and ask questions. Ben's life may not be practical, but his ideology is intriguing.
Watch it.
Review
This was written and directed by Matt Ross, better known as the megalomaniac CEO of Hooli Gavin Belson on Silicon Valley.
Very soon you realize Ben (Viggo Mortenson) and his family live life just a bit differently. His oldest son Bo hunts and kills a deer in close quarters with just a knife. That is hunting.
Ben anoints Bo with the deer's blood, declares him now a man, and Bo then eats the deer's heart or some other organ. I didn't know if they were just mountain people or crazy.
The kids are incredibly smart, knowledgeable about history and biology, and they're physically fit. Despite how smart the kids are Bo is socially awkward. When they go into town for supplies, Bo is intimidate by a few girls, unable to talk to them. They regularly venture into town for supplies, selling hand made items they've crafted. Ben and his wife decided to live off the grid, unwilling to be part of a capitalist society. This is their reactionary response. While Ben has decided to flee society, he hasn't fully severed ties.
His philosophy on raising children is brutal honestly and extensive study. I did have some questions about the emotional stability of his children, though the movie doesn't get into that. He's building kids capable of being self sufficient and surviving in a post apocalypse world, but they have no place in the current world. While he's rejecting society, the question is why.
Adversely, many people criticize what's wrong with the world and take no action. Ben has. He realizes you can't change the world, you have to change yourself.
The truth he tells his children is fine, though he gets into the concept of sex that one of his kids obviously can't grasp. He doesn't have to lie, but there are certain concepts that are above. The question is how much do kids need to know, and sometimes the answers is not everything.
He's a contrast to social norms, best showcased when he's at his sister and brother-in-law's house. His sister's husband sugarcoats the death of Ben's wife to his kids, but Ben jumps in and provides a straight if not jargon filled answer. His kids get it, but most wouldn't understand the medical terms, though the point is clear. It's a great look at normal and Ben. I can't disagree with him. Children are smart and independent, able to handle a lot.
The families are complete opposites. Is lying and protecting children harming them? Ben thinks so, but both families could stand to expose their kids to the other side. That's the message Matt Ross is crafting. You have to find a balance. Ben can't escape society, and he largely depends on it. His sister argues that his children have facts but don't know the world. Even his eight year old can recite and analyze the Bill of Rights, but for the good he's done they don't fit into the world.
After the funeral Bo accuses Ben of making him a freak. He only knows what is in books. When Ben is confronted by his father-in-law about the lies of having his kids in school and stealing, Ben begins justifying and thus exposing his flaws. Ben championed this life, but now lies about it, trying to hide his mistakes while unwilling to admit that he clung too hard to an extreme. He's defying his own principles of honesty.
He's operating outside of society and realizes that if his father-in-law were to get custody of his kids, Ben wouldn't be able to get them back because he's radical. His father-in-law has a legitimate claim that fits within organized society.
Few films make you think about how you live your life and fit into society. Most of us, me included, are content to say, "That isn't right." and just move on. It makes you consider your style of parenting but also how you were raised.
Ben comes to the realization that he created a "beautiful mistake." He questions whether it is best for his children, because his way of life couldn't save his wife. He built this proverbial house for his kids and is now burning it down and walking away. He expects them to reintegrate, but is unwilling to do the same. He should stay with them, but is unwilling to admit the mistake and face his children.
His philosophy is to criticize the fairy tales society tells children, but now that's exactly what he has done. He's created a fairy tale for them.
The end wraps everything up with a nice bow, Ben finding a balance between isolation and society. It wraps things up a little too neat with a lot of logic questions, but logic constraints would severely undercut the conclusion. As smart as his kids are, how would they not be bored in school? How do you get a passport in just a couple of days? How do you separate bone ash from wood ash? This is a movie that's never adhered to constricts, but these lapses are noticeable.
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