Tuesday, May 31, 2016

From the Land of the Moon

Review #3: From the Land of the Moon
By Eva Claire Schwartz

            Nicole Garcia’s From the Land of the Moon, is a dreamy, Nicholas Sparks-directs-in-France type of drama that promises sexual undertones and passion, yet is shot in a romantic fashion suitable of 1950s French countryside.
            We meet Gabrielle (Marion Cotillard) satisfying her sexual conquest by lifting of her skirt and allowing the river to wash over her. From a seemingly conservative French rural family, we are shown that she sticks out like a sex-obsessed sore thumb, unabashedly writing explicit poetry to her married (with a child on the way) schoolteacher at a large gathering and throwing herself onto him. But after exposing herself in a window to the farmworkers blowing off steam below, Gabrielle’s mother decides some changes have got to be made: marry her off or ship her to a mental institution.
            Aware of her daughter’s beauty, Gabrielle’s mother pulls Jose (Alex Brendemuhl) aside and promises him a life in business if he takes their unstable daughter out of their house. Jose agrees, but Gabrielle flees to the barn before signing on to the matrimony. She refuses, however, to sleep with him, but he gets by, openly hiring prostitutes out for sex in a nearby town.
            After presumably many nights of this, Gabrielle decides to have sex with Jose in exchange for the money he would have paid whatever prostitute he encountered. This scene is not steamy like we’d imagine of Gabrielle’s fascination of the “principle thing” , but rather we find ourselves wishing it was over, specifically for Jose’s sake. It shouldn’t be that hard to muster up some zeal for an alluring husband (he’s got the whole ‘dark-brooding-man-of-few-words’ appeal down), but we end up with a lackluster scene where no eroticism takes place and he climaxes after mere seconds.
            Around this time, Gabrielle is shipped off to an expensive spa/treatment facility that the couple doesn’t seem to be able to afford to take care of her kidney stones. Her treatment consists of her sitting around in a plush, white bathrobe and sometimes being shot with a high-pressure water hose (better than the lobotomy which was also on the table). Here she meets man of mystery, Andre Sauvage (Louis Garrel), whose appearance hints at an incurable illness, given that he’s bedridden 90% of the time. But oh no this is the man of Gabrielle’s dreams. He can play the piano beautifully; he’s tall, dark and handsome; and he’s just come from battle.
            She is obsessive over him, sobbing and running after the car that transports his body for treatment. But ah! he returns and following a brief affair, he swears he will send for her, his love.
            Gabrielle can focus on nothing but him. She candidly write him love letters in the months that follow, confessing to Jose that she will, in fact, leave his ass when her darling sends for her.  When Andre doesn’t write back (Notebook anyone?), Gabrielle writes a final letter to tell him she is pregnant with his child.
            The rest of the film follows her daily life, detachedly raising her son, Marc, and coinciding with stable-minded Jose, until relying on the final fifteen minutes of shock factor that end the film. On that note, you need the surprising twist to fully understand the character development that Garcia hopes to achieve with Gabrielle.
            Marion Cotillard leads Garcia’s film into woe-is-me splendor. Without her, the film would center around a whiney, no-good female lead who brought nothing to the table. But Cotillard’s portrayal of self-centered Gabrielle leads us to ask very real questions that we have to figure out for ourselves. Is Gabrielle a slave to her illness? Or is she merely a narcissistic woman caught up in lust when the sexual revolution wasn’t going to hit the home front for a while? Queen of tormented female leads, it’s hard for us to believe anything but the first. Gabrielle was taught to sexually stifle herself, and therefore was unable to healthily express any emotions she had. If feeling sexual urges was wrong, then what feelings of hers were correct? She was trapped in an environment that actually suggested a lobotomy. This is the age of “hysteria” and “lunacy”, two words made up to express the socially unacceptable behaviors of women. How did anyone grow up “normal”?
            Alex Brendemuhl’s portrayal as steadfast Jose counterbalances Gabrielle’s wacky and off balanced behavior, making us hope he can catch a pleasantry for his wife at some point. He seems to truly love her, especially given the revelation the plot springs on us, and reminds us he has been there the whole time (reminiscent of Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd).
            While the film is effective and enjoyable to watch, in the end it can be chalked up to be a character study of under-sexed Gabrielle. Either you will sympathize with her antics or you’ll be frustrated that she can’t concentrate on anything but herself for more than 60 seconds.


Director: Nicole Garcia
Producer: Alain Attal
Screenwriter: Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi (based on a novel by Milena Agus)
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel, Alex Brendemuhl, Brigitte Rouan, Victoire Du Bois, Aloise Sauvage, Daniel Para, Jihwan Kim, Victor Quilichini
Run Time: 116 minutes


Review Hell or High Water

Mini Review #2: Hell or High Water
By Eva Claire Schwartz


            Director David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water reads as a modern-day Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but with a cause. Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are two estranged brothers who come together to repossess their family’s land from Texas Midland Bank, paying it off with money from robbing said bank’s multiple branches. Driven to ensure the futures of his children, Toby has higher stakes than Tanner, who is reckless and savage, actually firing guns and ending up on a fierce sharpshooting chase through the mountains.
            The enjoyment of this film comes from the subtly of Taylor Sheridan’s (Sicario) script interlaced with issues facing farming families, Native Americans and poverty. The most powerful card in Hell or High Water’s stack is the balance between corrupt bank robbery and noble fatherly action. Is there any dispute that stealing is wrong? No. But we empathize with Toby for wanting to provide for his sons and dig them out of the meager hole they’ve been born into.
            Action packed and nicely paced, Hell or High Water reminds us of Old West classics while throwing in enough heart to remind us that not all action films are driven by the pulling of a trigger.

Director: David Mackenzie
Producers: Sidney Kimmel, Peter Berg, Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham, Marin Ireland, John-Paul Howard, Katy Mixon, Dale Dickey, Kevin Rankin, Buck Taylor
Screenwriter: Taylor Sheridan

Run Time: 102 minutes

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

"I, Daniel Blake" Review (Winner of Palm d'Or)

Review 3: I, Daniel Blake
By Eva Claire Schwartz

            In I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach gives us a common man who becomes an unaware martyr to a heath care system that doesn’t value the people it serves. Throughout the film, our beloved underdog, Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), is hit with frustrating roadblocks that deter not only his health, but his quality of living. We watch as he loses everything to his name, and yet continues to be the selfless, loving neighbor who puts everyone above himself.
            We meet thick-Cockney-accented, naturally jolly-faced Daniel Blake in total darkness, hearing only an over the phone call centering on the benefits he receives from the government. Having a bad heart condition, he has recently suffered a heart attack that leaves him unable to work. This is not, however, as bad as it will get for widower Blake. The Employment and Support Allowance from the government have chosen an incompetent “healthcare professional” to assess Daniel’s condition, and against all doctor’s order, deems him suited for work.
            Here is our frustrating Catch-22 which keeps the protagonist from living with a peace of mind: in order to receive the benefits he needs to live at a level above homelessness, he must prove that he is actively seeking work. Yet, he cannot accept any kind of job offer due to the fact that he is still in recovery from his heart attack.
            Loach plays this as frustratingly as needed. Daniel is kind in an old-man-disgruntled way, but manages to still show unfaltering affection for the most important people in his life such as the two young adult neighbors who are constantly up to no good.
            In the dawn of the technologically elite, Daniel also grapples with a society that requires vast internet knowledge. Scene after scene he is told to fill out unimaginable forms online, yet the social worker who sneaks over to help him use a computer is publicly shamed for doing so. An older audience can’t help but identify with him and a younger audience can’t help but replace him with a beloved family member or friend who constantly calls them with questions about screens and buttons.
            During a disheartening wait line at the benefits office one day, the title character sticks up for the rights of single mother Katie (Hayley Squires), who totes two young children around with her. Recently leaving a homeless shelter after being placed far from her family in London, Katie needs what Daniel offers: altruistic friendship. The four form a kind of misfit family - Daniel teaching the squirmy son how to sand wood and picking older up from school. He leaves her money he doesn’t have to pay for heat and in turn she secretly forgoes meals in order to include him in family dinner.
            Their struggles develop parallel to each other. Daniel continues to be denied the benefits he needs, making him literally one step from living on the streets. Katie, having not eaten in an unknown number of days, rips the lid off of a can of beans in the food bank and pours them into her mouth. Both are becoming products of the system. Both are being torn down. Both can’t seem to catch a break.
            Daniel’s unconceivable selflessness remains infallible, yet we believe every minute of it. His love for others helps to establish him as a productive member of the community. He is not the deadweight, dropout that politicians and media want us to make of those on the welfare system. He is upstanding and courteous. Hardworking and loving.
            This is clearly a jab at the system by the liberal-minded Loach, and we should (and do) believe every bit of it. Here we have two honest and diligent people, Katie and Daniel, who despite their efforts, cannot seem to crawl out of the hole that they had no part in digging.
            Frankly, this film is important. It is memorable and chilling because the concept of people being cheated by an unfair system detrimental to their health and stability is not new. With government systems switching their in-person presence to an online presence, the bureaucracy surrenders the last bit of social credibility it has left. If only staff members could have been able to spend time helping Daniel fill out his CV and talking through his problems. Instead, this carpenter who has survived off a tangible craft and customer service for decades, is assumed to understand the ins and outs of a metal box that leads to a world online.
            Dave Johns trades in his comedian hat to portray the very real and very honest Daniel Blake. He approaches his character with empathy, depicting Daniel giving the system every chance until he absolutely cannot take any more of their deception. Johns transitions into the beloved Daniel, giving us moments of quiet comedy, loud proclamations, and sweet gestures. He wins us over by becoming so investing, that by the end of the film, I could have sworn Daniel Blake was a relatively close friend or earnest uncle.
            The film leads up to a masterful ending that will have you walking around days after suddenly struck by the need to get up and do something – anything really. Loach brings us a light in a jaded system. In a generation where we take technology and privilege for granted, it forces us to put down our smart phones, step away from our screens, and think.



Director: Ken Loach
Writer: Paul Laverty
Producer: Rebecca O’Brien
Cast: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann, Kate Rutter, Sharon Percy, Kema Sikazwe
Run Time: 100 minutes


Monday, May 23, 2016

Last Daze

Sunday, May 22

We knew this day would come. It is the final day of the film festival that has given me so much (festival badges, unlimited San Pellegrino, Orlando Bloom) and taken so much away (my waistline, shame in begging for tickets, one high heel that broke).

Today they played all of the official competition films one more time in preparation for the closing ceremonies. One last chance to deem which movie will win or see an obscure foreign film so you will sound even more revolting when you get back to the United States.

We took a train in (thankful for no more strikes) to see Ken Loach's latest I, Daniel Blake. What a masterpiece. People walked out of this theater with black runs of mascara and stifled sniffles.

Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a lower income worker with both the best and worst heart around. Worst because he is unable to work due to a heart condition that causes a heart attack. Best because he is the most selfless and fights for the underdog. In order to get the benefits he needs to survive, he must prove he is actively looking for work. However, he can't actually get a job because he is deemed unfit for work by his doctor.

Along the way, he meets Kattie, a single mother who is struggling to make ends meet with two children and no employment.

Their friendship is one of selflessness and their story is a treasure.

Ken Loach's film, which ended up winning the top prize at Cannes (the Palm d'Or), is a blunt look at the ineffective benefits system of the U.K.

It's the kind of film that will spark change because of its blatancy. You won't be able to think of anything else for a while as it seems to still be haunting me. I absolutely loved it.

After wiping our eyes, we made our way to stand in line for From the Land of the Moon, a story about the rather unstable French woman Gabrielle, played by Marion Cotillard.

Luminous, Gabrielle seems to break all the rules all of the time, falling in love with those she can't and having bits of kind-of-tantrums.

The movie, based on book Mal di Pietre by Milena Angus, follows the relationship she has to the man who parents marry her off to and a man she falls in love with while being sent away for medical treatment.

This film seems to be pretty polarizing. While it is soaked in a less embarrassing Nicholas Sparks feeling (pretty fantastical and love-centered), you can't help but feel for Gabrielle and the cast of characters that drift in and out of her life.

Either way, it was a beautifully shot French tale. A good alternative to anything on Netflix for a Friday night when you need to be transported away. The last 15 minutes are the pivotal moments of the film with developments you won't see coming.

Worth a viewing in my book. I thoroughly enjoyed a little romantic drama after I, Daniel Blake.

Here's where the day took a turn.

After two emotionally taxing films, we popped on over to the McDonalds like the faithful Americans that we are. Now before you close out of this blog forever, I'd like to mention that the ice cream at French McDonalds is unparalleled. You think McFlurries are good? Nope. The French have put in only the best candy (toffee, KitKats and peanut M&Ms) and also given you an option of what kind of syrup you want in there.

After we each got one, we settled down at a table and chair set to eat them.  Unfortunately this is pigeon metropolis. These birds are bold bold bold. As someone on our trip noted, "These pigeons are disrespectful" and honestly I could not agree more.

In a moment of good humored fun, a friend threw a french fry my direction. That is where all bets were thrown to the wind as five pigeons took flights to swarm me. I'm talking about feeling the flaps of disease-riddled wings beat against my back as Alfred Hitchcock came to mind and I screamed bloody murder.

Apparently a look of such unbridled fear had never been seen by those around me because they all broke into a fit of laughter which continued on into the evenings.

Just before we got up to leave, a pigeon took flight and hit our beloved friend John with a bit of bird poop. Karma wasn't going to let a french fry throw go unnoticed.

After walking through the market, we hopped back on a train to head to our apartment in Juan les Pin. The train was particularly full of everyone leaving the festival for the last time and seats were scarce.

I found on next to a girl who was sitting beside a small carrier housing a washcloth, and quickly pulled my legs in from the aisle so other passengers could pass by.

Little did I realize who my seat companion was.

I looked over into the cage and saw the washcloth violently shaking around.  The older Italian gentleman across from me took notice as well and we watched in horror.

Haven completely given up the pursuit of the throaty French language, I asked her what was in her cage.

She popped open the lid to reveal Therese, he beloved (and quite large) guinea pig. But the Italian man couldn't quite see over the handle of the cage and missed this reveal.

"Vhat is in there?" he asked again?

"A guinea pig," she whispered. "Her name is Therese."

The old man look befuddled.

"You justa have a pig in dat cage right there?!?"

Nope. In fact, he never did really get the answers he was looking for and hurried off the graffitied train to tell his wife of the French girl toting a piglet named Therese and listening to the rock music.

We headed to the grocery store (oddly called "Casino") to get meats and cheeses for dinner.

I will miss telling people I'm going to the casino. It really sounds to them like I've had a lot of success there.

"Where are you going?"

"Well last time I went to Casino I had the best luck! I only spent 11 euros and picked up a bar of soap."

Now that's my kind of casino.

While we have about a week or so more in France, I can't imagine Cannes without the numerous white tents lining the beach for pavilions or the little security guards that wand you down with metal detectors.

Really, I could have smuggled pretty much anything on my body as they truly do not care what you're packing and barely tap you with the wand, but still.

What a fantastic and eye opening experience with some really amazing people and friendships. The Canadians really lived up to their stereotype, by far being the warmest country we encountered.

I will miss you, Cannes. Even the doorman at Chanel who everyday made understanding eye contact with me. I didn't ask to come in and he didn't open the door. It worked out pretty well.

Bonus Story:
A very sweet and very funny person on our trip scored tickets to the highly exclusive Neon Demon afterparty. The party boasted a lot of Schwepps products, a famous French DJ and hundreds and hundreds of partygoers. One such partygoer apparently was on a mission to find some cocaine.

Upon asking our sweet friend for coke and ultimately using the word "snow", our friend stated, "hahaha yes I do love snow!" thinking until after their conversation that they were just having a friendly chat about the weather.

Bon soir, EC

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Shorts Shorts Shorts

Saturday, May 22

Today we woke up a tad later than planned. Not the end of the world because we got to stop by a very important landmark in Cannes: Jean Luc Boulanger.

There are 2 bakery/boulangeries that I credit my current existence with: Jean Luc's Boulanger and a little corner bakery painted orange. Jean Luc's usually has a bit of a line, but the orange juice is unlike anything of this realm. They squeeze it in front of you. Also they have a tart that changed my life. Roasted apricots with pistachios. You have never tasted heaven like this before.

The other one has towers of cream puffs and eclairs, beignets and quiche lorraine. They know me by my bad French and slight embarrassment at mispronouncing words that translate to "I like this to take away from here" when I want to carry out.

So if you are reading this, pastry chefs that have put up with my rough translations, then congratulations to you! Good karma points are in your future! Or maybe just some very fancy eclair filling.

We got a sandwich and a water (hydration is moderately important; nespresso probably doesn't think so) and hopped in line for the Short Films Screening at the top of the Palais.

There were so many wonderful shorts, and a few that were horrifying.

Here's an overview of some you don't want to miss:

1) Timecode: The story of a security guard who discover, through the timecoded surveillance videos, that her coworker loves to dance. Funny, sweet, cute.
2) After Suzanne: The story of a man who meets a girl with a boyfriend, and becomes the other man. It's realistic and charming.
3) Silence: A girl must translate to her Kurdish mother the deathly progression her breast cancer has taken. No one else in the hospital speaks Kurdish so she must take on this task even though she hasn't hit puberty yet. Poignant and heartbreaking. The bond between these two and the heartbreak we watch the daughter go through makes this feel feature length.

The shorts showing lasted about three hours, so we hopped on a train and headed home. About 12 of us sat in Taylor and my room, drinking wine and laughing. It was such a wonderful time. France + inexpensive rose + chocolate tartlets bring people together y'all. I'm loving every minute of this experience.


More Like the Neon Egotist

Friday, May 20th

All of festival, we have been hearing raving reviews about the South Korean film Agassi, The Handmaiden. Luckily for us, the festival replayed all of the Official Competition films all day Thursday and Friday.  We made plans to wake up and take a train in to see it Friday.

We low key knew what we were getting into. One of the longer films at Cannes, this story tells the tale of Sook-Hee, a con artist who is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress in attempt to trick her out of her fortune.

Ladies and gentlemen three parts is a very long time. My legs went to sleep and then the ants crawling feeling happened.

The story's three parts are told in different perspectives: the handmaiden, the Japanese heiress, and a combination of the two for the last part.

It had subtle humor, beautiful visuals, and a storyline that moved quickly. Be warned that this film is graphic to the extreme. All bets are off in South Korea apparently.

If you can stomach a little torture scene at the end and a lot lot lot of sex then you are good to go for this one.

After resurrecting the legs I walk on, we made our way to the train station to change into formal attire to beg for tickets (because I am not done trying to be a peasant!!!!).

The final premiere was Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. It was not actually the final premiere in retrospect, but the final premiere we all wanted to go to. One last red carpet hooplah, if you will.

Donning the dress I bought for junior year prom and shoes purchased for senior year, I was reliving the glory days of high school. A bunch of people came and got ready in our room and we all took the train over, formal attire and all. (It's pretty fun to ride public transportation in formal attire, in case you are looking for a fun activity in a larger city.)

Upon arriving back in Cannes, we located the nearest pasta restaurant and sat down all decked out for wine and a meal. This restaurant had one of the largest outdoor eating sections in Cannes, complete with a very fluffy white poodle.

Dogs in France must not get over 45 lbs because I have only seen two big dogs: an Afghan and a Dalmatian. Dogs are people here. Do not ask to pet them. Do not think they are cute. Do not comment on them. They do not care about you.

After a carafe or two of rose and basil pasta, we headed to transform into well-dressed low-lifes who must grovel to the fancy and wealthy for tickets to the edgy film premiering.

Two Indian men came up and offered Taylor and I one ticket. Upon us taking it, they put their thumbs up and took a picture. Why? I will never know.

We scored another ticket not too long after, and hurried to meet the cut off of the red carpet.

My ticket was for the balcony, the others having tickets for the orchestra, so I had the experience of walking a red carpet solo. It's much different than when Julianne Moore does it. The general public is shuffled to and from, masses flocking to the doors to get good seats but also sneaking iPhone photos.

I'd like to give the selfie culture of America a shoutout for teaching me all the techniques I know to capture the perfect, blurry moment of my face against red carpet-clad stairs. Also to Spanx for understanding that red carpet attire is unforgiving.

I sat in the middle of an older French man (late seventies) and two young French girls who talked about Elle Fanning's dress the entire time. That showing really saw some Grade-A facial expressions from myself, but alas! I could share them with no one because French man looked perplexed the whole film and the French girls had each other.

What a film. Potentially the oddest film at Cannes (that is saying something). First of all, Nicolas Winding Refn is potentially the worst. He came into the theater early and hogged the red carpet. I think we were all pretty irritated.

After the MOST BIZARRE film (cameo of Keanu Reeves as a jerk motel owner), about the fashion industry and how it eats you alive (literally there is cannibalism), I sat in shock. Not even the overly loud music and neon lighting could save it. I kept thinking to myself "this shot would make a nice still frame but...not a moving shot..." and yet it kept going. If you were a fan of Drive, this is forty two notches downward.

The film ended and as I struggled to put back on my high heels (took them off for the sake of my very red feet) I noticed that Refn was not going anywhere. He bathed in the applause and then milked it by not leaving the theater, so it got forced really quickly.

The movie was a neon (appropriately named) tale in which Refn tried to prove he is the next Stanley Kubrick. Not quite. Also his preteen daughter came to the screening. If I had seen that at a pre-nineteen year old age I would have been scarred for life.

I walked out, not sure what reality was and wasn't, to Gaspard Ulliel standing by the exit!!!!!!! This made everything worth it. SO HANDSOME. SO FRENCH. SUCH A TINY MUSTACHE.

We stood next to him for ten minutes, staring. I couldn't help it.

Picking my jaw up off the floor and standing a little straighter, I collected myself and walked down the street to hang out with our group before heading home.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

A Very Important Review

Review 2: Captain Fantastic
By Eva Claire Schwartz


            Viggo Mortenson’s food-hunting, literary-teaching, and forest-dwelling paternal role as Ben Cash in Captain Fantastic, questions what’s important in life and the role of a father. Matt Ross’s 118 minute chronicle of a couple who rejected the norms and moved their family into the mountains of the Pacific Northwest manages to pull heartstrings and spark celebration all at once.
            Opening with all of Ben’s offspring covered in black paint and humanely killing a deer for food (then processing the meat for dinner), we are immediately aware that this is no ordinary family. It quickly moves to dinner and a show where the kids are all well-versed in different instruments and they play off each other’s talents before crawling into the bunk beds situated along the back of their teepee house complete with self-sustaining garden.
            Even though Ben makes it clear the family will continue to live on as normal, bipolar wife Leslie (Trin Miller), who we only actually meet in dream sequence, slits her wrists in the psychiatric institution her conservative parents placed her in. The parents, who predictably live in direct contrast to the Cash’s lifestyle, ban Ben and the children from the funeral of their beloved spouse/mother and threaten arrest if seen on the property. After much convincing from the children, Ben packs up the VW bus affectionately named “Steve” and hits the road with the six children who know nothing about living in society.
            The group makes it to Ben’s sister’s (Kathryn Hahn) house where the children experience video game violence and store-bought chicken for the first time. Conflict arises when Ben is openly honest about Leslie’s death with his nephews, and when he uses second youngest, Zaja (Shree Cooks), to show up her much older cousins in intellect.  While the scene is comical and puts you on Team Cash, Cooks recites lines robotically, and it can be hard to take her knowledge as authentic.
            The Cashes, who read Lolita, are banned from using the “non-word ‘interesting’”, and receive weapons as gifts for Noam Chomsky Day, are overwhelmed with the excess and luxury of their grandparents’ lifestyle. After the family is thrown out of the funeral for vocalizing Leslie’s wishes to be cremated, middle child Rellian (Nicholas Hamilton), who doesn’t quite fit in with the knife-savvy family, becomes an advocate for a life spent with the grandparents he doesn’t really know.
            While it is clear that it’s difficult for the Cash children to function in normal society, their loyalty to their father and their wish to execute the mission “Save Mom” is nothing short of endearing. Even through their father has doubts about their safety with him, the children are adamant that he is their best and preferred option.
            After all of this (mostly) genuine emotion, Ross ends the film with a song and dance. It’s a nice loop back to the beginning, which featured a spur-of-the-moment song around a bonfire, but this one seems a little hokey. I want to believe it and be an advocate for its effectiveness, but I wasn’t sold. It seemed contrived and artificial.  The sentiment is there: Mom’s favorite song (“Sweet Child of Mine”) in a celebration of her life, even though she was temperamental, on top of a mountain complete with song and dance. Yet, it plays as if Ross is forcefully trying to find a tie back to the beginning of the film.
            The breakout star of Captain Fantastic is undoubtedly intelligent George MacKay who plays eldest son Bodevan. The British born actor has just the edge he needs to play socially awkward and inexperienced Bo, who’s college education we are rooting for in the background of the film.  We buy his self-proclamation of Maoism and his Ivy League acceptances (is growing up in the wilderness what gets you into Harvard these days?). We laugh at his artless conversations with a cute girl and can’t help but love him when he drops to his knees and declares his love after 12 hours of knowing her. He is a quirky star in the making.
            Also noteworthy are the original soundtrack of songs that shout “Road trip!” and the honesty in which Ross captures the emotions of seven very different family members. Upon announcing the death of his beloved, Mortenson seems callous, but by the end of the film, the audience is convinced he is struggling in his own way. How else should a mountain man react? We are given authentic mourning, joy and love. Ross shoots for our hearts and wins over our whole bodies instead with ethereal landscapes and relationships we can all identify in our own lives.



Director: Matt Ross
           
Producer: Lynette Howell Taylor, Jamie Patricof, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson

Writer: Matt Ross

Cast: Viggo Mortensen, George Mackay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Trin Miller, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn, Elijah Stevenson, Teddy Van Ee, Erin Moriarty, Missi Pyle, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd


Run Time: 118 minutes