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Captain Fantastic (2016)

Director:
Matt Ross
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Drama/Comedy
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Captain Fantastic
RUNNING TIME
118 minutes
Producer:
Monica Levinson
Jamie Patricof
Shivani Rawat
Lynette Howell Taylor
Screenwriter:
Matt Ross


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Ben Cash Viggo Mortensen
Bodevan Cash George MacKay
Kielyr Cash Samantha Isler
Vespyr Cash Annalise Basso
Rellian Cash Nicholas Hamilton
Zaja Cash Shree Crooks
Nai Cash Charlie Shotwell
Harper Kathryn Hahn
Leslie Cash Trin Miller
Dave Steve Zahn
Claire Erin Moriarty
Ellen Missy Pyle
Jack Frank Langella
Abigail Ann Dowd

 

Review

This weirdly titled anthropological experiment of a film explores how it could have unfolded if a man had decided to raise his children in complete opposition to modern western society's focus on consumerism, urbanism and what the film claims to be a deteriorating educational system. Viggo Mortensen plays the hippie/militaristic father and is fully able to make him both sympathetic and layered. It's fascinating and arguably a little inspiring for any parent to watch him invoke an abundance of parenting measures that goes against today's often automated choices and make you question why things are done as they are. Writer/director Matt Ross certainly seems to have immersed himself in his idea for the film. Unfortunately for the overall effect, however, both Mortensen's character and Ross go too far, making the film partly counter-productive. It was unnecessary to convey all the six children as multitalented prodigies, and there's also a segment at a funeral which seems forced for dramatic effect. Ross would have made his point, and maybe with more weight, had he kept his story a tad more on the realistic side. That being said, the film should be able to work as a wake-up call for some modern parents who may feel it's easy to resort to a lethargic parenting style. If that scene of Mortensen visiting his sister's family is more than a little painful to watch, you're probably one of them.

Copyright © 05.12.2016 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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