“Captain Fantastic” is a Moving Story About the World’s Not So Greatest Dad

As Matt Ross’s touching sophomore film “Captain Fantastic” makes its rounds through the festival circuit it continues to garner more and more positive buzz. And “Captain Fantastic” lives up to its name as Ross tells the story of a family living to the beat of their own drum and drags you across each end of the spectrum of human emotion with a dramatized and idealistic portrayal of what it means to be a good parent.

In the opening scene, Bodevan (George MacKay), the eldest son of the six children of the Cash family, slays a deer and then takes a bite of its heart as part of a coming-of-age ritual that sets the engaging pace for the film. This world set deep in the forest of the Pacific Northwest feels so separate from the world we know, we instantly believe living in the wilderness is the only way to live. The Cashs' daily rituals include hunting, martial arts, and knife training all necessary for surviving in the isolated land. Their self-sustaining lifestyle is mixed with bits of singing and dancing around fires and homeschooling with topics including Marxist theory and critically analyzing Lolita.

Their life is turned upside down with the news of the suicide of the matriarch, Leslie Cash (Trin Miller), who had been hospitalized by her parents to treat her bipolar disorder. It is not until Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen), the patriarch of the family, visits the local town and receives the news on his outdated cell phone that we see how removed his family is from civilization. Ben returns to his yurt-like home and shares the news with his kids with a frankness and maturity usually reserved for adults.

The death of Leslie and her upcoming funeral act as forced motivations for Ben to expose his kids from what he has protected them their entire life. The disconnect in socialization, however, is apparent through the kids’ interactions with strangers, and it is especially noticeable any time that Bodevan interacts with the opposite sex. On their road trip to New Mexico for Leslie Cash’s funeral, Ben’s parenting strategies and lifestyle are questioned as the kids attempt to reintegrate into society. Throughout the film the characters, and the audience, struggle to understand and accept different parenting styles and question what it means to be a family.

Ross’s background in acting shows in his directorial style as he is able to elicit captivating performances from even his youngest cast. Charlie Shotwell and Shree Crooks, Nai and Zaja respectively, steal the show as the littlest of the Cash clan. Their characters, wise beyond their years while maintaining their youthful curiosity, add a much needed balance to Ben’s often arrogant and controlling persona. Frankly, each actor shines in their roles gaining extreme levels of empathy from the audience. Nicholas Hamilton’s performance as the middle child Rellian provokes audible sneers and tears as he rejects his father’s lifestyle in favor of his conservative grandfather Jack’s (Frank Langella), and Mortesen’s counter as Ben, the charismatic and caring yet pushy and impatient father, creates an equally heartbreaking and heartwarming dynamic. Also, George MacKay does an incredible job revealing Bodevan’s internal struggle between his devotion for his father and his desire to attend university and assimilate with his peers.

Hidden underneath the main theme of the film, Ross subtly inserts commentary on different social, economic, and political issues including economic inequality, obesity, religion, and the American education system. All mentions of these issues feel organic and add depth and insight into the characters, their actions, and their dialogue. Each situation is carefully chosen and each conversation is profoundly significant allowing the characters and the scenes to develop naturally.

The ethereal score feels as if it were taken directly from the Jonsí discography. The transcendental quality of the music matches perfectly with the aesthetics of a film filled with rays of soft sunlight, striking shots of nature, and hippie décor. Each frame on the road feels postcard worthy and leaves you ready for adventure. With production design capturing the same adventurous spirit of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, the highly romanticized outdoor experiences strongly parallel the idealistic counter-culture lifestyle the Cash’s live.

During its premier in Cannes’s Un Certain Regard category, two hours of smiling, sniffling, and laughing were followed by a well deserved, boisterous standing ovation that lasted through the credits. Ross somehow succeeds in creating a feel good family drama that avoids standard road trip clichés and leaves you with a feeling of elation.

Subscribe to INDIE & FILM FESTIVALS: http://bit.ly/1wbkfYg Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Like us on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/1QyRMsE Follow us on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt Captain Fantastic Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella Movie HD In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.

'American Honey' is a Sweet Antidote for the Failing American Dream

British director Andrea Arnold left her home country for the United States for her first feature film set and shot outside of the United Kingdom, using her working class background to expose the life of a young American Honey and her desires for something greater. The Instagram-documentary-like film establishes a modern take on the pursuit of happiness with visuals and audio that invite you on the journey.

American Honey follows the life of Star (Sascha Lane), an 18 year-old girl stuck in a hopeless life assuming more responsibilities than she should, opening with her dumpster diving for food and attempting to hitchhike with two kids that aren't her own. Upon seeing a white van filled with a rambunctious crowd, she allows her curiosity to take over and follows them into a Walmart-esque store. There she meets Jake (Shia LaBeouf) with whom she is immediately hypnotized. Jake breaks out in to dance with his squad as “We Found Love” by Rihanna plays over the speakers before inviting her to join his comrades selling magazines door-to-door across the Midwest. After the minute of spontaneous excitement from meeting Jake, Star rushes home and returns the kids to their biological mother and drops her suffocating life, beginning to pursue her own adventure by joining the ragtag team of semi-delinquents to start an exhilarating life on the open road. Star finds her escape traveling cross-country working during the day and staying in motels and partying by night.

In several interviews the cast explains that Arnold and her casting directors traveled across America in search of their perfect characters. Sasha Lane, who plays the main character Star, was scouted on her spring break in Panama City Beach. With relatively little experience, she gives an exceptionally captivating performance as a tortured girl full of idealism and hopefulness for her modest future. Most of the cast was scouted in the same way. This type of casting allows the actors to be extremely genuine within their characters, which shows in the film from beginning to end. Two actors, however, already had extensive experience under their belt. Shia LaBeouf’s performance as the rat-tail wearing, slightly erratic Jake is one of his best performances in the last decade and one of the best at the Cannes Film Festival. The character Jake is so in tune with LaBeouf’s celebrity persona one can hardly tell the difference. Another stand out performance includes Riley Keough’s portrayal of the ruthless ringleader Krystal who embodies the phrase “if looks could kill.” The performances combined with the cinematography allow the audience to experience the world through Star’s eyes, getting to know best the characters she knows best.

The cast and crew travelled over 10,000 miles shooting on location collecting hours of road trip footage. Stand out Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan closely captures intimate moments on the road and highlights the off-beat characters without inducing claustrophobia. With a 1:37:1 aspect ratio, the nearly square screen gives a home-movie feel pushing the story forward through snapshots of experiences rather than a traditional plot arc. Images of twisting hair, beautiful landscapes, and candid moments flood the screen for an over all feel good sensation, but the film tackles serious issues such as domestic abuse, morality, and income inequality to represent a world as dynamic and fascinating as the real one.

The “American Honey” soundtrack acts more as a mix tape rather than background noise; I found myself singing and dancing along in my movie theater seat wishing I was jamming out with the windows down. Arnold avoids an instrumental score and goes for a fantastic combination of recognizable tracks each song better than the next. Arnold incorporates a variety of genres including rap, hip-hop, country, and electronic, and by the end of the film we hear a repeat of Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” the group’s favorite, which could not have been a more perfect fit for the film. Hats off to the music supervisor. 

With a practically unrecognizable cast, a non-story plot, and a run time of 162 minutes, the success of Andrea Arnold’s fourth feature film American Honey seemed unlikely, but the Cannes Jury Prize winner immerses you deeply within the lives of the nomadic runaways leaving you wanting to feel the wind in your hair as you explore new lands.

Interview AMERICAN HONEY : Andrea Arnold, Shia Labeouf, Sasha Lane Riley Keough Subscribe to the Festival de Cannes channel: http://bit.ly/FestivaldeCannes-YouTube Our official website: http://www.festival-cannes.com Twitter : https://twitter.com/Festival_Cannes Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Festival-de-Cannes-Page-Officielle/197710070249937 Instagram: https://instagram.com/festivaldecannes Tumblr: http://festivaldecannesofficiel.tumblr.com/ ******************************************************** Abonnez-nous à la chaîne du Festival de Cannes pour ne rien rater de la Compétition: http://bit.ly/FestivaldeCannes-YouTube Le site officiel du festival de Cannes: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/Festival_Cannes Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Festival-de-Cannes-Page-Officielle/197710070249937 Instagram: https://instagram.com/festivaldecannes Tumblr: http://festivaldecannesofficiel.tumblr.com/

“It’s Only the End of the World” Makes You Wish the World Would End

Despite his past success at Cannes, 27 year-old director Xavier Dolan's sixth feature film premiere at the festival, It’s Only the End of the World fails astronomically. Shockingly, Dolan shared at a press conference Thursday that he considered it his best yet, though Dolan drowns the film’s potential in melodramatic theatrics, heavy-handed metaphors, and insufferable characters.

It’s Only the End of the World - adapted from Jean-Luc Lagarce’s 1990 play - introduces Louis (Gaspard Ullile), a gay playwright returning with an undetermined terminal illness to visit his family for the first time in 12 years. Through voice over, he explains in the most minimal detail his family history and his desire to maintain control of his life despite his insurmountable obstacle. Louis is received by his mother, Martine (Nathalie Baye), overbearing and decorated in matching bright cobalt blue eye shadow and nail polish, his youngest sister, Suzanne (Léa Seydoux), who just cries, his hot-tempered brother, Antoine (Vincent Cassel), who yells at everyone to shut up while only screaming himself, and Antoine’s irritatingly timid wife, Catherine (Marion Cotillard), who stutters through her lines.

The rest of the film is spent between screaming matches filled with useless dialogue and winded monologues and extremely close-up shots. Each character, obviously, lives within their own drama and anxieties, but the excessive shooting style overkills the message. So much of the film is in your face rather than subtly stated and interpreted losing its intrigue. The heated rows serve as the only conflict in the entire film, and the lack of character backstory or development leaves the audience questioning whether the “tension” presented is worthy of the intense hatred and immaturity.

The film takes place almost entirely in one location over the course of one day, which paired with its excessive dramatic dialogue and over the top characters, the film never separates from its stage play feel. Also, Dolan’s focus on the cuckoo clock as a metaphor for Louis’s time running out comes off painfully amateur and poorly executed. The theatrics of it all feel oppressive, forced, and unnecessary.

It's disappointing to see such a gifted cast of renowned actors wasted on a film that offers no depth or attention to its characters. Each performance feels stifled, only acting within the tight parameters of their characters. Cotillard as Catherine stutters as her lines get lost in translation, Seydoux as Suzanne breaks out in tears every scene despite the over emphasis on the lack of relationship between her character and Louis, Baye as Martine hovers and attempts to ignore the palpable tension, and Cassel as Antoine is unbearable as the explosive older brother. Cotillard, Seydoux, Baye and Cassel have all reached international acclaim and prove themselves time and time again, but they are robbed of an opportunity to shine in It’s Only the End of the World.  

Gaspard Ullile, who also stars in another Cannes film, The Dancer, remains tight-lipped and relatively reserved except for the two instances we tap into Louis’s building nostalgia as he trudges closer and closer to death. The two dream-like and romanticized flashbacks paired with booming pop music create a slight depth to the complexity of the psychological effect the disease has on him. Their infrequency, however, makes it feel as if they were an after thought. This is unfortunate as they are the only redeeming parts of the film. The jumbled cinematographic details and flip flopping soundtrack seem erratic and unfocused as if Dolan was on crack during production and post-poduction (as he directed and edited the film) and decided to change aesthetic decisions every three minutes.

The dismissal of any and all homosexual themes from the original play weaken the films perspective. The play is written by a man who lived during the AIDS epidemic and later died of the disease himself in 1995. In Dolan’s film version, we get only brief moments of Louis’s former boyfriend, Pierre, once in a flashback and once more with the mention of his death later in the film. Dolan never alludes to the possibility of AIDS as the disease leading Louis to his death, a detail that would garner more sympathy from the audience. This blatant disregard for the play’s themes leaves the film’s focus simplistically placed only on a white man dealing with his dysfunctional family. How original.

After years of back to back successes at such an impressive age, Dolan finally fails. Now with a flop behind him, we can hope his next film, already in pre-production, won’t be as painful to sit through.

'Café Society' Not a Night Club Worth Visiting

Cannes favorite, Woody Allen, made his 14th festival appearance with Café Society this year. In typical Allen fashion, the film stars big name actors including Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively and Corey Stoll, but despite the big names, Allen’s recent films have garnered most of their major buzz based on negative press. While the films cinematography, production design, and soundtrack are admirable, its poor performances and weak writing make it land on Allen’s growing flop list.

The film begins as Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) moves from the Bronx out to the west coast hoping to experience Hollywood’s golden age. Once there, his Uncle Phil (Steve Carell) offers him a job. On his first day he meets Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) with whom he is instantly smitten. Vonnie first rejects his advances, but, when she is dumped by her boyfriend, she immediately comes crawling straight towards Bobby like a lost, lonely puppy. Following a series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings, Bobby is left alone and returns heart broken and hardened to New York. A few years pass and it seems as though Bobby’s life heads up hill. He marries Veronica (Blake Lively), has a child, and starts up a wildly successful nightclub with his brother, Ben (Corey Stoll). But, just when his life seems to be going perfectly, the trouble begins: Vonnie pops back into Bobby’s life. They share their dreams and their “what could have beens,” but they never fulfill their unrequited love.

Undoubtedly inspired by himself, Allen portrays Bobby as a naïve and romantic young man who must squash his romantic dreams to continue a life of monogamy and monotony. Eisenberg does a good job in portraying Bobby’s transition from immature young man to cynical adult, but unfortunately, the half-assed performances, unbelievable relationships, and the inclusion of themes repeated in Allen’s body of work make the plot uninteresting. It is normal for an artist to draw inspiration from their personal lives; it is usually encouraged. But, when the artist writes and directs films every other year, their work easily become boring and repetitive. Jesse Eisenberg, now an Allen film vet, plays essentially the same character he played in When in Rome. Instead of an aspiring architect like Jack, Bobby aspires
to work in Hollywood. Instead of falling for a beautiful and intelligent actress unlike any girl he has met before, he falls for a beautiful and intelligent secretary working in Hollywood unlike any girl he has met before. Like Jack, Bobby stays with the safe blonde rather than risking it all for an alluring brunette.

Kristen Stewart’s performance as Vonnie is basically Kristen Stewart wearing more pink dresses than normal. Stewart’s real life “tomboy” attitude peeps through as she attempts to portray a girly, bubbly, and captivating secretary. When adorned in fancy jewels and elegant furs, she looks uncomfortable, as if rejecting her character. In scenes requiring any romantic interaction, she appears hesitant and reserved. Also, casting Steve Carell as a suave and accomplished Hollywood hotshot hinders the believability of his character (typecasting at its finest).

The lack of depth in Stewart’s acting can be easily attributed to the lack of depth of her character. As a matter of fact, the lack of depth of all the female characters. Allen is known for writing idolized and romanticized female characters, but that is no excuse to continue writing such one dimensional, mind-numbing characters film after film. Both Vonnie and Veronica are introduced and sustained on such superficial level that limits the audience’s ability to see them
as more than objects.

With accusations about Woody Allen’s history of sexual abuse, the reveal of Vonnie and Uncle Phil’s relationship is unsettling rather than comical. It definitely does not help that Allen’s indiscretions are under the media microscope even more heavily now thanks to the rape joke at the opening ceremony. On top of the allegations, the lack of chemistry and authenticity in the on-screen relationships between Vonnie and Uncle Phil and Vonnie and Bobby leave the main story line and the jokes falling flat.

The only truly comedic moments include Bobby’s family. Bobby’s large and meddlesome family finds itself in sticky situations as they react to the events in their lives. Sadly, those scenes do not push the story line forward in anyway; they just exist for comedic purposes. Recycled and tired jokes, themes, and plotlines make for a boring and predictable film. Despite its trademark Woody Allen touches, Café Society does not live up to the director’s
past films.

Cafe Society is in theaters July 15th