Captain Fantastic (2016)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Ben Cash	Viggo Mortensen
Bodevan Cash	George MacKay
Kielyr Cash	Samantha Isler
Vespyr Cash	Annalise Basso
Rellian Cash	Nicholas Hamilton
Zaja Cash	Shree Crooks
Nai Cash	Charlie Shotwell
Harper	Kathryn Hahn
Leslie Cash	Trin Miller
Dave	Steve Zahn
Claire	Erin Moriarty
Ellen	Missy Pyle
Jack	Frank Langella
Abigail	Ann Dowd

Review

This weirdly titled anthropological experiment of a film explores how it could have unfolded if a man had decided to raise his children in complete opposition to modern western society's focus on consumerism, urbanism and what the film claims to be a deteriorating educational system. Viggo Mortensen plays the hippie/militaristic father and is fully able to make him both sympathetic and layered. It's fascinating and arguably a little inspiring for any parent to watch him invoke an abundance of parenting measures that goes against today's often automated choices and make you question why things are done as they are. Writer/director Matt Ross certainly seems to have immersed himself in his idea for the film. Unfortunately for the overall effect, however, both Mortensen's character and Ross go too far, making the film partly counter-productive. It was unnecessary to convey all the six children as multitalented prodigies, and there's also a segment at a funeral which seems forced for dramatic effect. Ross would have made his point, and maybe with more weight, had he kept his story a tad more on the realistic side. That being said, the film should be able to work as a wake-up call for some modern parents who may feel it's easy to resort to a lethargic parenting style. If that scene of Mortensen visiting his sister's family is more than a little painful to watch, you're probably one of them.