Captain Fantastic | DVD review - Viggo Mortensen's rugged thinker

Equally convincing as a man of action and of intellect, Viggo Mortensen is perfectly cast in Captain Fantastic as a rugged outdoorsman-cum-deep thinker who is raising his six children off the grid in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. Here lessons in rock climbing go hand in hand with instruction in quantum physics.

When Mortensen and his brood (including Pride's George MacKay, Samantha Isler and Annalise Basso) embark on a cross-country road trip to New Mexico, the culture-clash comedy that ensues is hugely entertaining. The clan’s encounters with straight society are great fun, but writer-director Matt Ross also has some serious points to make about modern society and its flaws.

As the film’s flawed hero, Mortensen’s charismatic paterfamilias is a compelling figure. But his children’s vibrant energy and immense curiosity make a terrific impression, too.

Certificate 15. Runtime 114 mins. Director Matt Ross

Captain Fantastic is available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Download from Entertainment One.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1kH4OMIOMc

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.