Movie Review - Captain Fantastic

THIS indie film has a good story, which begins in the forests of the Pacific Northwest where a young man named Bo (George McKay) stalks and kills a deer.
His father, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortenson), then smears Bo’s face with the deer’s blood and the boy is now declared a man.
This morbid beginning moves to a more sunny scenario with Ben and his six children doing their daily chores, with him teaching the ­children survival skills and how to live off the earth.
They also have fun as a family, enjoying reading time around the campfire, followed by playing music and dancing.

We also learn that Ben’s wife Leslie (Trin Miller) is suffering from mental illness, and has been ­hospitalised.
During one of his visits to a nearby town, Ben learns that Leslie has killed herself.
He is warned against attending her funeral in New Mexico by his angry father-in-law, Jack (Frank Langella), who threatens to arrest Ben if he shows up.
However, the children want to go, and Ben puts them all in the family bus and takes them on a road trip.
The trip ends up not only opening their eyes to the world around them, but also forcing Ben to reevaluate his choices regarding his children’s upbringing and ­education.
This movie does not really paint anyone as being all good or bad. Essentially, it is about a father who thinks he is doing the right thing by his children only to realise that he has never really given them the ­option to choose.
Ben’s ­unconventional parenting style clashes with that of his sister Harper (Kathryn Hahn) and brother-in-law Dave (Steve Zahn).
At one point, it seems like he has the upper hand on his sister, but later, during an argument with Bo, the children show they really know nothing about the outside world.
Mortensen is brilliant as Ben, and this character’s reawakening is what this film is really about.
Captain Fantastic opens tomorrow only at GSC ­International Screens (at GSC Mid Valley, Pavilion, 1 Utama and Gurney Plaza).