This movie challenges lots of things that we wrongfully take for granted in today's society. Mortensen is brilliant for yet another time and all the cast is simply breathtaking.
The concept of the movie and the backstory were brilliant. A touching movie, heartwarming and brilliant all along. A father that although strict and sometimes military like, who's also artistic and deeply sentimental. An amazing depiction from Vigo Mortensen. Amazing.
A movie that in a simple but yet elegant way depicts all the things that have altered our society and brings forth lots of the things that really matter. It makes us think about the ways we were raised and rethink the ways in which we want our children to be raised.
This is a movie well worth your time. One of the best movies I have watched in 2016, by far!
Captain Fantastic
2016
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Captain Fantastic
2016
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Ben and Leslie Cash live largely off the grid with their offspring -- Bodevan, Kielyr, Vespyr, Rellian, Zaja and Nai -- in a cabin in the mountains of Washington state. The parents have passed their socialist and survivalist ideals to their children. Ben considers most of Western society to be fascist, especially corporate America. He also believes that no one will or should be there for you, so you'd better learn how to take care of yourself. As such, the children have been subject to vigorous physical training; know how to deal with minor bumps, bruises, cuts, sprains, and even fractures; and know how to hunt, forage, and grow their own food. The children are also non-registered home schooled, meaning that they have no official academic records. Ben and Leslie have tried to make the children critical thinkers, however, within the context of their ideals. Beyond these issues, Ben and Leslie made the decision to live this lifestyle for Leslie's health. Formerly an attorney, Leslie was diagnosed as bipolar. Ben believes that this disorder started with her postpartum depression with Bo. Yet Leslie's condition has worsened. Despite not believing in Western medicine, Ben sends Leslie to a hospital close to Ben's sister, Harper, so that there can be family close by. While hospitalized, Leslie commits suicide. Beyond the collective grief, Leslie's act brings out a battle between Ben and Leslie's father, Jack Bertrang, a Christian who not only blames Ben for Leslie's death, but believes that what he is doing "to" the children can legally be considered abuse. Jack takes over the funeral arrangements as per his and his complacent wife Abby's Christian morals, against what Ben knows was Leslie's wishes, as she believed in Buddhist philosophies. Although Jack threatens to call the police if Ben shows up to the funeral, Ben and the children believe it is their mission to honor Leslie's last wishes to be cremated as per Buddhist philosophy. This mission not only may bring the divide between Jack and Ben to a head, but may also bring out some long dormant issues between the Cash children as they are exposed to commercial America in all its good and bad, and as Bo grows into manhood, he may have his own ideas of what he should do with the next phase of his life.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Unique movie
Captain Fantastic is a very amusing look at trying to find a balance between two different worlds.
Mortensen plays Ben, A father of six children, whose wife suffers from mental illness and Ben thought it would be good for her and the kids to live out in the wild, living off the land and tossing the rules of our society out the window. However, Ben's wife did not get better. Captain Fantastic mostly focuses on the children. On a road trip towards their mother's funeral, they get a culture clash with the rest of the world. It lays out all the info for the question of weather these kids were raised right or raise wrong. Captain Fantastic starts off showing you the children's lifestyle, were organic met growing and hunting your own food and made their own clothes and were home schooled. Then they come into society where everyone looks at them as if they are freaks, but why is it weird that these kids don't know the name brand of sneakers? The look on their faces when they experienced Street Fighter for the first time makes sense when your not use to such things. Besides, it's a shame on our Society that an 8 year old can comprehend the Bill of Rights better than those older than her. Watching these kids tackle the woods than watching them adapt to society was a bit of an eye opener. Some times the movie punches you in the gut, like when the talk about religious "organizations" and how Fat everyone in the city seems to be, but the blow is softer cause it's coming from children. But Captain Fantastic is not all one sided, detailing some down qualities of living in the wild , like the eldest son's overzealous first encounter with the opposite sex or the fact that It was the parents choice to live out in the woods, not the child's. Mortensen played the part well of a man who sometimes got too clouded by his beliefs of doing the right thing by his family and who sometimes went to far to prove a point. Also like Frank Langella's character, the father who just lost his daughter and blames his son-in-law. It's was good cause you really know people like the character he plays. Steve Zahn and Kathryn Hahn were also terrific in the movie playing yin to Ben's yang, as parents who don't fully see eye to eye with what he's doing. Overall, everyone has a upbringing different from everyone else and Captain Fantastic takes that statement to a different level, but at it's core, he's just a parent who loves his children and is trying to do the best he can in a difficult time. This theme radiates from Mortensen and the rest of the cast, which is what makes it so Fantastic.
Where Did This Film Come From? An actual hidden gem
Never heard of this much to my detriment and regret.
There are few films in the mould of Grapes Of Wrath or Mr Smith Goes To Washington that one can say genuinely both entertain and teach the viewer a lesson. This is one of those rare concoctions.
You will laugh and shake your head and worry and be glued to the screen. You will also learn and think and review it in your mind.
Bravo.
Negative reviews = drank the kool-aid of the system long ago.