An emotionally intelligent but often dimwitted celebration of left-wing ideals, Captain Fantastic (2016) is a veritable pinata for hippie punchers. Its loving, unironic portrayal of various groan-worthy past-times associated with liberalism such as drum circle singalongs, public nudity, and gushing about Noam Chomsky managed to redden the cheeks of even this self-identified leftist. I shudder to think of the paroxysms of derision anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders might unleash in response to this movie.
However, the occasional gaucheness of Captain Fantastic's passionately leftist point of view is less of a flaw and more of a reflection of our woefully depoliticized American culture. With the mainstream news media promoting false equivalency on every issue from the reality of man-made climate change to the Clinton vs. Trump presidential contest, we have been conditioned to respond to anything with an explicitly stated opinion as 'biased,' ignoring both objective evidence in support of certain political conclusions (e.g. the reality of climate change) as well as the plethora of bogus biases already embedded in so many political and economic institutions (e.g. bipartisanship is virtuous; economic growth is always desirable; meritocracy is real).
As a result, most American political movies tend to only make surgically precise arguments they can defend, leaning on existing public consensus towards historical events or figures (e.g. Selma, Good Night Good Luck, Snowden, Spotlight) or filtering social commentary through tightly constructed satire or allegory (e.g. Nightcrawler, Arbitrage). While cogent and convincing as logical argument, this approach also has the effect of cordoning off politics from the realm of the imagination or the heart: from how what it means to love, live, work is vitally intertwined with questions of politics.
Captain Fantastic's assumption that politics is an extension of a fundamental value system rather than a merely historical or policy-oriented abstraction sets it apart from the pack and is European in its nonchalance. While characters certainly discuss politics and, at times, defend their ideas, every frame of the picture takes for granted that the planet is in peril, that consumerism is immoral and soul-deadening, that the current state of public education does not cultivate creativity or critical thinking. Whether or not you agree with these assumptions either grants you or doesn't grant you access to the story.
Thus, Captain Fantastic will surely rub people the wrong way for the wrong reasons either for being too liberal or for being too politicized period. Regardless of these inevitable criticisms, however, the film is marred by a nearly fatal flaw in its portrayal of the title character, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) as a literal superhero. While the title Captain Fantastic suggests an acknowledgment of the fantastical nature of the character's moral perfection, Ben doesn't appear as an allegorical construct but rather as a character we should more or less take literally. When taken literally, Ben is both an implausible and problematic character.
Though Mortensen brings his trademark charisma and sensitivity to the part, the character is unintentionally creepy in the obsessive dominance he asserts over the emotional and physical lives of his expansive brood. His confluence of characteristics - individualism, all-knowing patriarchal authority, and ubermensch-like physical and intellectual prowess - are also anathema to the film's explicit and implicit feminist, communitarian ideals.
Captain Fantastic features universally terrific performances from its ensemble cast, and its overall approach to interweaving drama and politics is refreshing. However, by portraying its protagonist as a literal superhero, the movie misses an opportunity to tell a more honest and nuanced story about left-wing people and their politics.
However, the occasional gaucheness of Captain Fantastic's passionately leftist point of view is less of a flaw and more of a reflection of our woefully depoliticized American culture. With the mainstream news media promoting false equivalency on every issue from the reality of man-made climate change to the Clinton vs. Trump presidential contest, we have been conditioned to respond to anything with an explicitly stated opinion as 'biased,' ignoring both objective evidence in support of certain political conclusions (e.g. the reality of climate change) as well as the plethora of bogus biases already embedded in so many political and economic institutions (e.g. bipartisanship is virtuous; economic growth is always desirable; meritocracy is real).
As a result, most American political movies tend to only make surgically precise arguments they can defend, leaning on existing public consensus towards historical events or figures (e.g. Selma, Good Night Good Luck, Snowden, Spotlight) or filtering social commentary through tightly constructed satire or allegory (e.g. Nightcrawler, Arbitrage). While cogent and convincing as logical argument, this approach also has the effect of cordoning off politics from the realm of the imagination or the heart: from how what it means to love, live, work is vitally intertwined with questions of politics.
Captain Fantastic's assumption that politics is an extension of a fundamental value system rather than a merely historical or policy-oriented abstraction sets it apart from the pack and is European in its nonchalance. While characters certainly discuss politics and, at times, defend their ideas, every frame of the picture takes for granted that the planet is in peril, that consumerism is immoral and soul-deadening, that the current state of public education does not cultivate creativity or critical thinking. Whether or not you agree with these assumptions either grants you or doesn't grant you access to the story.
Thus, Captain Fantastic will surely rub people the wrong way for the wrong reasons either for being too liberal or for being too politicized period. Regardless of these inevitable criticisms, however, the film is marred by a nearly fatal flaw in its portrayal of the title character, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) as a literal superhero. While the title Captain Fantastic suggests an acknowledgment of the fantastical nature of the character's moral perfection, Ben doesn't appear as an allegorical construct but rather as a character we should more or less take literally. When taken literally, Ben is both an implausible and problematic character.
Though Mortensen brings his trademark charisma and sensitivity to the part, the character is unintentionally creepy in the obsessive dominance he asserts over the emotional and physical lives of his expansive brood. His confluence of characteristics - individualism, all-knowing patriarchal authority, and ubermensch-like physical and intellectual prowess - are also anathema to the film's explicit and implicit feminist, communitarian ideals.
Captain Fantastic features universally terrific performances from its ensemble cast, and its overall approach to interweaving drama and politics is refreshing. However, by portraying its protagonist as a literal superhero, the movie misses an opportunity to tell a more honest and nuanced story about left-wing people and their politics.
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