![]() Matt Ross' Captain Fantastic is a missed opportunity, a film that touches on a host of insightful discussions about paternity, collectivism vs. individualism, education, and corporatism, only to squander nearly every one of these commentaries for the sake of forced sentimentality. The film opens in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, where Ben, a devoted father, raises his six kids outside of mainstream society, giving them a regimented and rigorous physical and intellectual education. Raising his kids to be completely self-sufficient from the system, Ben finds his world turned upside down when he learns of the suicide of his wife, who had been living away from their secluded paradise due to mental illness. Intent on making sure his late wife's wishes are respected at the upcoming funeral, Ben is forced to leave the forest and enter society again, taking his six children along who have never stepped out of their secluded slice of paradise. Built in the same vein as a film like Little Miss Sunshine, Captain Fantastic is a crowd pleasure, a film that delivers a nice balance of comedy and drama. The central heart of the story is about family but also Ben's internal struggle as a man who has become so stubborn and disenfranchised with what he perceives the world has become that he goes to far at times for the sake of protecting his children from experiencing things first hand. The strength of the film is in its depiction of what it means to be a good parent, exhibiting the delicate balance that exists between providing values to one's children while giving them the freedom to be their own person and learn by themselves. In the beginning of Captain Fantastic, Ben is a character who has a very authoritarian grip of his children, with everything they read, write, and do part of his designed regime. It's only after the family ventures out of their seclusion that the children are treated to an opposing point of view, one that subtely begins to challenge Ben's strict, worldview. Intelligence and education for that matter are not simply regurgitation, and the film captures that quite vividly through Ben's oldest son, a character whose highly well versed in his father's teachings but a mere child when it comes to understanding human nature and the nuances of how we interact, think, and feel. Honestly, I don't think the filmmakers saw the true power in this aspect of the film, considering how it ends, but Captain Fantastic does touch on the importance of real world experience, as book smarts tend to only supply one piece of the puzzle. The juxtaposition of this families lifestyle with those of conventional society is where the film achieves most of its humor, with many of the laughs coming in the middle of the film when Ben's children are exposed to modern society for the first time. The main problem I have with Captain Fantastic is it doesn't ever have the balls to completely state its beliefs when it comes to lifestyle, opting instead to stay focused simply on its narrative about the importance of family and love, something that was probably smart for commercial reasons but utterly unsatisfying considering its setup. If you are a fan of films like Little Miss Sunshine than definitely see Captain Fantastic, as it checks most of the same boxes, being a dramedy about family, just keep in mind that if you are looking for anything more complex, it's probably best to stay away due to the film's elementary views of such complex discussions centered around collectivism vs. individualism, education, and corporatism/cronyism/capitalism.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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