Captain Fantastic

Taking helicopter parenting to a new extreme, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) is raising his six children (ages 7 to 18) off the grid in the Pacific Northwest. Ten years earlier, Ben and his Buddhist wife, Leslie (Trin Miller), became survivalists, teaching their kids to be self-sufficient, while also homeschooling them in philosophy, history, literature, science, and languages. They sleep in a yurt, do chores in adjacent treehouses and teepees, and play musical instruments around a campfire at night. Unconventionally counter-cultured, the family ignores Christmas, but celebrates Noam Chomsky Day, named after the leftist ‘60s icon. Each child has a unique name: Bodevan (George MacKay), Kielyr (Samantha Isler), Vespyr (Annalise Basso), Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton), Nai (Charlie Shotwell) and Zaja (Shree Crooks). After being hospitalized, bipolar Leslie commits suicide, and her wealthy, conservative parents (Frank Langella, Ann Dowd) blame Ben, forbidding him and the children to attend the funeral. Their subsequent road-trip forms the crux of the drama, as Ben reluctantly introduces his bohemian brood not only to capitalistic civilization but also the materialistic rituals of polite society, which are most evident when they visit their aunt and uncle (Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn), whose children are glued to their iPhones. Writer-director Matt Ross's Captain Fantastic questions the cost of idealism and isolationism, while also exploring which family values are important. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Insane or Insanely Great?” behind-the-scenes featurette (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a thought-provoking film.] (S. Granger)