Review of Captain Fantastic (2016) by Anthony I — 21 Oct 2016

Captain Fantastic is the most unconventional Dad movie I've ever seen. Viggo Mortensen plays a scraggly hippy, raising six children, off-the-grid, deep within the forrests of Washington state. He teaches his children survival skills, improvisational jam sessions, works of classical literature, and a heaping helping of socialist philosophy.

In one scene, they celebrate Noam Chomsky's birthday by going into town and stealing consumer goods from a grocery store. Way to stick it to the man. But their flower-power lifestyle comes to a halt when their estranged mother commits suicide, and they need to attend the funeral in the civilized world.

It's a fish-out-of water story that calls into question what it truly means to be a father, and what is truly the acceptable way to raise children in America. The film supplies no definitive answer, but it makes roughing it in the wilderness seem a lot of fun.

This is a beautiful film. Viggo Mortensen and the ensemble family absolutely blew me away. I felt so warm to be around these people. This is a fairly long film, yet it was so much fun that it flew right by.

This film will grow on you, guaranteed. I really like the film now, but I'm sure within a week, I'll begin to love it. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up somewhere on my top ten list this year.