Off The Grid
By Jonathan Kane
Is modern American culture nurturing or debilitating? That’s one of the deeper questions posed by the new entertaining movie, “Captain Fantastic.” Written and directed by actor Matt Ross, in a fine debut, the film should have wide appeal for an indie movie.
The story centers on Viggo Mortensen as a father to six children that he is raising off the grid with his wife in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, they have created their own Swiss Family Robinson, much to the chagrin of family members. When the story opens, Mortensen’s wife is in the hospital suffering from mental problems, leaving him to raise the brood, which he does with strict physical training and strenuous book learning.
One of many looming problems is the reality that their oldest son, an excellent George MacKay, will soon be entering the real world, prepared for it or not. In a stirring opening sequence, MacKay successfully hunts and kills a deer, much to the delight of his two younger brothers and three younger sisters as sort of a rite of passage.
When news comes that their mother has committed suicide and that her father plans a traditional burial, the family loads into the bus and heads to New Mexico, against orders, and tries to hijack the proceedings. It’s here that Mortensen comes face to face with American culture and everything that he has tried to shield the family from. Of course, the inevitable collision will have consequences.
Although the movie gets a little sweet at the end, all in all it is a fine effort principally because of Mortensen’s lead performance. He has now firmly ascended to the top ranks of American film actors and this is another don’t-miss
performance.