Captain Fantastic, dir. Matt Ross

06/11/24 • 10 min

Captain Fantastic, the film that gave Viggo Mortensen his second Best Actor nomination, is a thoughtful film about how even the most loving of parents can make errors that are detrimental to their kids.

And for 100 minutes, it's an effective drama that romanticizes the main characters' beliefs in raising his family and his kids to be self-sufficient and away from modern society.

Then, as the film moves forward, it shows the cracks and how Ben may have actually caused some unfortunate harm in the very kids he was trying to protect.

The film develops well enough to make this leaps feel credible and the emotion behind what happens is palpable.

The road trip/fish out of water story is pretty entertaining with some funny and heartfelt moments sprinkled throughout.

But then, without spoiling, the last twenty minutes seems to chicken out into a very safe ending that felt like it cheapens the overall story.

It's not an ending that makes the film bad, but it's one that took what was a great story with some real emotional bite and turned it into an ending that would rather pacify the audience into a happy ending where it may not have been deserved.

And for 100 minutes, it's an effective drama that romanticizes the main characters' beliefs in raising his family and his kids to be self-sufficient and away from modern society.

Then, as the film moves forward, it shows the cracks and how Ben may have actually caused some unfortunate harm in the very kids he was trying to protect.

The film develops well enough to make this leaps feel credible and the emotion behind what happens is palpable.

The road trip/fish out of water story is pretty entertaining with some funny and heartfelt moments sprinkled throughout.

But then, without spoiling, the last twenty minutes seems to chicken out into a very safe ending that felt like it cheapens the overall story.

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Asteroid City, dir. Wes Anderson

The Wiz DOES NOT RECOMMEND Asteroid City

Ever since seeing Rushmore back in the 90s, I've looked forward to seeing all of Wes Anderson's films.

I can freely admit: Wes Anderson is an acquired taste. You either like the way he shoots his movies and the deliberate way he has the actors perform or you don't.

But if I'm being honest, his last few films have not really done much for me.

Isle of Dogs felt like a mess in numerous ways, I did like parts of The French Dispatch but it's also not as tight as his best films.

And now Asteroid City is also another miss for me.

But what I didn't expect is that Wes Anderson's quaint, colorful, postmodern style would be the problem I would have with the film.

Telling a story about loneliness, despair and depression through a large cast could possibly be done well, but two problems arise: the movie clocks in at about 100 minutes and you barely know much about any of the characters and the emotion you would expect is drained due to Anderson's style.

There's also a meta-narrative involving the creation of this story (which is a play created by fictional playwrights) that felt largely pointless to me.

This just resulted in a mess that, after the end of the film, made me miss his more personal, dialed back films like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Next Episode

007 Debriefings: Skyfall

Zero and The Wiz Say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED for Skyfall
There are a lot of good elements about Skyfall, Sam Mendes' crack at the British Secret Agent.
The action is excellent with great stunts and exciting scenes. On top of that, the film is stunning in spots, filled with great sets and lots of color.
Another great element is Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva. His mix of smarm, charm and ruthlessness makes him an incredibly entertaining villain.
But if there's one slight issue, it's that there isn't more depth on Bond. In fact, this film seems to retrofit Craig's Bond into the tried and true Bond formula.
But hey, if you didn't like Casino Royale because it didn't stick to the formula, then Skyfall would be the movie that would rectify that.