Captain Fantastic (SFF Review)

Before the movie ended I was wondering how begin my review, as I knew I already wanted to write one. At first I was going to say how Matt Ross has taken similar undertones of a Wes Anderson movie to create something entirely different and unique but I want to use my favorite quote from The Lord of the Rings movies.

Sam: ...It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

At points in this movie I had the same feeling that Sam talks about here. I had no idea how these group of characters were going to have a happy ending and at points I was sure that they weren't going to have a happy ending at all and that I felt like I should walk out because I can't bare to know it's gonna end.

Captain Fantastic tells the tale of a man (Ben played by Viggo Mortensen) who is raising his kids in isolation by hunting for food, teaching them himself and learning survival skills. After his wife dies her father doesn't want him or his children to attend the catholic funeral, even though she is Buddhist and wants to be cremated. After being convinced by his kids they go anyway.

Viggo Mortensen really leads the show here. He carries the movie's emotional strength all by himself, not saying that the others didn't help but he manages to be arrogant and irritable but he too manages to be caring and warmhearted when he needs to be.

The other main cast members are Ben's six children. All six of them are independent characters, even if at times that act as one. This doesn't stop the kids from each giving memorable performances and the younger they got the better they seemed to get.

This is Matt Ross's second film after starring in movies such as American Psycho and Good Night and Good Luck. While I haven't seen his first film Captain Fantastic does show that he has the skill to become a great director one day, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Captain Fantastic fits in with movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Whiplash, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Beasts of the Southern Wild as recent indie breakouts from Sundance that resonate with a wider audience. Captain Fantastic is a must see.

Overall Score: 10/10

Captain Fantastic has been picked up for distribution by Entertainment One Australia but there is is no word of a release date.