CAPTAIN FANTASTIC (Matt Ross). 119 minutes. Opens Friday (July 15). See listing. Rating: NNN
Captain Fantastic stars Viggo Mortensen as Ben, an unconventional man raising six children in a Washington State cabin where the cultural theories of Noam Chomsky are given the same importance as knife-fighting skills.
When their mother dies in New Mexico, Ben packs the brood into a bus, determined to crash the funeral – but that’s just the departure point for this odd, tonally unclassifiable examination of parenthood in contemporary society.
In his second feature, the actor Matt Ross (the snide Gavin Belson on HBO’s Silicon Valley) creates a fascinating group of characters who are never as simple as they appear.
And if the narrative stalls in the last half-hour, Mortensen and the rest of the ensemble – which includes Frank Langella, Steve Zahn, Kathryn Hahn and Pride’s George MacKay – are interesting enough to keep us watching.
Don’t miss our interview with Viggo Mortensen.
normw@nowtoronto.com | @normwilner
