Directed by: Matt Ross
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Annalise Basso, Trin Miller, Steve Zahn, Kathryn Hahn, Charlie Shotwell
No, Captain Fantastic is not another movie from the oversaturated Marvel Universe. If I were to assign a nickname to Ben Cash, the patriarch of this film, it would more like Super Smug or Captain Pretentious. Or just plain Boring Jerk. Ben lives with his six children in the Pacific Northwest woods and way, way off the grid. They don't live in a house in the woods, but small tents. They kill wildlife for food and the oldest child Bodevan (MacKay) apparently completed a rite of passage by slicing a deer's throat. His reward? His father rubs blood on his face and utters something about a boy becoming a man. This is the film's opening scene and I felt icky and uncomfortable with the Cash family already. While eating all natural foods and promoting reading isn't a bad thing, I think having the kids fight each other in order to promote self-defense might be. Especially when one of the kids is stabbed, which elicits a "Defend yourself better" response from Ben. Swell guy.
The Cash clan only becomes more insufferable as the movie wears on. Did I mention the film takes place in the present day and not in the 1800s when living off the land was more of a necessity? In a world with amazing technological advancements, the Cash's smugly reject such things in favor of "sticking it to the man" and reading philosophy thrust upon them by the old man. Make no mistake. Ben is not a guy who promotes free thinking and healthy arguments among his family. He is more of a dictator. When one of his children expresses his opinion that the family should celebrate Christmas instead of "Noam Chomsky Day", Ben invites the boy to make an argument, but you can tell by the rest of the family's body language that they were all ready to verbally pounce on the outnumbered child. Who is Noam Chomsky? He is the famed writer and philosopher who espouses about...wait, I may need to revisit his Wikipedia page to recall exactly what he wrote about. In Captain Fantastic, he is the patron saint of this family. They celebrate his birthday with gifts and a cake. Give me a break.
The movie takes the stance that Ben is doing right by his family, while the kids' extended family such as uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents represent greed and commercialism because they play video games and live on golf courses. As the film opens, Ben's wife Leslie is institutionalized for manic depression and eventually kills herself, which leads to absolutely no emotional reaction whatsoever from Ben. He tells his children bluntly, "She finally did it." Sweet guy. Leslie's will expresses her desire to be cremated and have her remains flushed down a public toilet. Her father (Langella) opts for a traditional funeral. So, Ben gathers up his kids in the family bus and travels to New Mexico to hijack the body so it could be disposed of according to Leslie's wishes. The icky meter just jumped into the red.
Ben's brother and sister-in-law (Hahn and Zahn) feel, not unseasonably, Ben's way of life is borderline abusive to his children. Ben's retort is to have his youngest daughter explain the Bill of Rights to them. Their points are valid, however, because in a scene in which Bodevan finds himself in the company of a girl he likes, he has no idea how to act on his feelings in a healthy way. Bodevan goes behind his father's back to apply to top schools and is accepted to all of them. He laments to the old man that he is not able to function in the real world. "If it isn't in a book, I don't know anything about it," he tells Ben, who is upset over his son lying to him.
One of the many disturbing scenes (and there are many in this film) involves Ben faking a heart attack in a supermarket so his kids can shoplift unabated. This is a plan this group has executed before apparently. He justifies this as a healthy expression of grief, but he is actually prepping them to be criminals. The movie never reconciles these dualities in Ben. Mortensen received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role here. I suppose he is to be commended for tackling such a role. It is a case in which I need to separate the character from the performance. The character is unlikable, while Mortensen plays the role convincingly. I have more of a problem with how the character was written and how the movie sees him than I did with Mortensen's acting. I admired the performances here, especially Langella, Hahn, and Zahn as grieving family members who have to reconcile their feelings for their loved one while dealing with Ben's inappropriate actions. The father wants custody of the grandchildren. I can't say I blame him. He isn't being unreasonable. He simply cares about the welfare of his grandchildren.
Ben eventually sees the error of his ways...sort of. But then the movie lets him off the hook anyway. The final scene made me cringe because Ben actually sighs in discontent even though things seem to work out ok for him. He doesn't deserve to have a happy ending, but he does anyhow and he still isn't happy. The scene in which Leslie's body is dug up and then cremated while the family sings an acoustic version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses is among the creepiest scenes I've ever witnessed. Living in a house instead of on the forest floor is not selling out or giving into to crass conformity. It is actually safer and healthier. The movie never tells us exactly how the family handles the Pacific Northwest woods in the winter. Or whether they defecate in the woods like bears. Thank God.
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