Review of Captain Fantastic (2016) by Christopher S — 11 Sep 2017

Captain Fantastic had an intriguing premise and was beautifully filmed, but unfortunately the script was so poor and cliche-ridden that I turned it off halfway through. Unbelievably precocious children spouting literary and philosophical references right out of the CliffsNotes; a family living off the land in the deep rainforest (good luck growing vegetables with 2 hours of direct sunlight a day for three months a year); somehow affording to drive a pristine school bus cross-country to a funeral; silly male rites of passage; cringe-worthy fireside jam sessions; pre-canned cultural critigues. I don't understand how people found it charming and informative. Rather, I found it somewhat insulting that Ross kept everything at a superficial level and never allowed his characters to have a real, meaningful conversation. The dialog was more like an exercise in combining Sorkinesque sanctimonious one upsmanship with Wes Anderson's preciousness. Not a pleasant combination in my opinion.

Had Ross focused on building a believable life for the family, with all the inherent difficulties (malnutrition, interpersonal conflict, depression, isolation, money worries, broken down vehicles, infected bug bites and unhealed injuries) rather than an impossible neverland with a few minor inconveniences, he might have captured my interest. Instead I was focused on everything that was wrong with his picture.

Maybe I missed the point. Maybe it was supposed to be a farcical send-up of the lefty homeschool crowd. In that case, it also did a poor job, as I didn't find it particularly humorous in its literalness and lack of subtlety.

I'd love to see a similar plot in the hands of a more capable and experienced director - someone who can construct believable dialog and demonstrates a little more restraint. But this is not it.