Captain Fantastic

First Hit:  This is an amazing film about family, love, and the belief in doing something different.

This film stayed with me for days after watching it. The strength of the film is in the characters.

I’m not sure where they got the name for the film, but to let you know it has nothing to do with a fantasy comic book character and all to do with an amazing man brave enough to raise his children in a way that makes them fully responsible for their actions, by giving the skills to make good choices, and allowing them the freedom to discover.

Viggo Mortensen (as the father Ben) has a daily regimen for his six children that includes, hunting, climbing, running, exercise, reading, cooking, cleaning, and helping their siblings. They are living somewhere deep in the woods in the Pacific Northwest far away from any city and the noise of urban and suburban America.

The children all speak at least four languages and the truth when they talk. They have been home-schooled, are resilient, and each have their unique personal strengths that come out in the film. We learn that their mother Leslie (Trin Miller) has been in the hospital for 3 months for her struggles of being bipolar.

Ben then learns on a trip to town to get mail and supplies, that she has committed suicide. He tells the children in a very straightforward manner and their grieving process is touchingly shown. They want to go to the funeral but Leslie’s father Jack (Frank Langella) forbids it and threatens Ben with being arrested. He blames Ben for Leslie’s life choices and for making his daughter ill.

Of course the audience and Abigail, (Ann Dowd) Leslie’s mom, knows different; but it makes for some riveting scenes between Ben and Jack. During the trip to the funeral, they visit Leslie’s sister Harper (Kathryn Hahn), brother-in-law Dave (Steve Zahn), and their two boys. The scenes during this visit are interesting as well as hilarious.

Mortensen again reminds me here about how good an actor he is. He is fantastic (maybe why the film was named this) and clearly shows why he’s a great actor. George McKay (as Bo) was amazing as the oldest son. Samantha Isler (as Kielyr) was so present and strong as the oldest daughter. Annaliese Basso (as Vespyr) was sublime as the second oldest daughter. Nicholas Hamilton (as Rellian) was the second oldest son was wonderful in his pivotal role. Shree Crooks and Charlie Shotwell (as Zaja and Nai respectively) played the two youngest children and they brought so much humor and joy to the film that it would have been far less without them. Langella was perfect as the conservative, wealthy father of Leslie who stressed about the path his daughter took. Dowd was great as the slightly oppressed wife of Langella while being understanding of her son-in-law Ben and her daughter’s wishes. Matt Ross wrote and directed this film. The writing was outstanding, sharp, pointed and elegant all at the same time. His direction was spot on, leaving the audience to engage and learn more about this family.

Overall:  One of the very best films I’ve seen all year.

Draft Day

First Hit:  Overall, it was enjoyable, partially predictable and at times surprisingly unpredictable.

The world of drafting sports players onto professional teams has become big business. Television rights, high-level news reporting and “fantasy leagues” all contribute to the business side of televising this event. Although I’m aware of the draft days (mostly for football and basketball), I do not care enough to watch these events because it just isn’t that important or interesting to me.

What interested me about this film was hoping to see how deals were made before the choices are announced on television. I also thought that Kevin Costner, playing Cleveland Brown’s General Manager Sonny Weaver Jr., would be good at playing this sort of character. He did and so did Dennis Leary as Coach Penn. They both played great antagonist, power control issue roles. 

The story begins with 24 hours on the clock before teams, in their draft order, have 10 minutes name the player they want to sign to their teams. There is always heavy competition by the players to be picked high up in the draft because that guarantees’ them more money. Weaver begins the final day receiving phone calls from players who want him to draft them and also from the team’s owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) who wants his GM to “make a splash”.

The pressure is building because Coach Penn wants specific people drafted. Then the calls from other GM’s wanting to trade people and draft choices begin to come in. To add a more human aspect of Weaver’s life, he has a relationship with Ali (Jennifer Garner) the team’s financial guru. She had told Weaver the night before that she is pregnant with his baby and supposedly their relationship is hidden from the staff. But it is the final moments of when the league commissioner begins to announce the choices and how the dealing of people quickens.

Costner is smooth, intelligent and believable in this role. He was very strong as the general manager. Leary was perfect as the strong ego centric coach that wants to prove himself with the right players. Langella was sublime as the team’s owner – he carried this role perfectly. Garner is plenty smart and good in this role and I guess there was more of her character in the film. Griffin Newman as Rick the intern was specifically fun to watch and he did the intern role very well. Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph wrote a credible screen play. Ivan Reitman directed this with a good view of the way a draft day could play out.

Overall:  I people knowledgeable of the draft process would appreciate the way it is done here because it is educational. 

Robot & Frank

First Hit:  An amazing well done film covering our near future with robots, family dynamics, and dementia.

Frank (played by Frank Langella) has early stage dementia. His son Hunter (James Marsden) lives 5 hours away and drives up to visit his father every weekend. It is wearing on him.

But the real message is that they weren’t ever really close and there is a obligatory feeling to Hunter’s visits. Frank’s daughter Madison (played by Liv Tyler) is traveling the world with a natural “do-gooder” sort of spirit.

Frank visits the library to get his pile of books and to also visit the librarian named Jennifer (played by Susan Sarandon). He fancies Jennifer and there is a hint of this feeling being returned. Hunter buys his father a robot that is programmed to take care of his needs, clean his house, cook his food and try to get Frank to actively use his mind to lessen the dementia symptoms.

Frank hates the robot at first but soon discovers that the robot has possibilities for him and uses the robot to assist him in taking revenge on Jake (played by Jeremy Strong), a “consultant” who is destroying the library by removing its books and making it all electronic.

The film’s setup is a wonderful way to explore our near future, the relationships between family members, how technology may provide assistance, and if technology cares (Can robots feel or sacrifice?).

Langella is sublime. I couldn’t think of a better person to be this character; part time cat-burglar, lost in the past at times, fully present at others and all the while keeping a sense of dignity and fragility. Marsden is very good as the son who cares about his father but still resents him and his childhood. Tyler is great as the daughter that just loves her dad and still remembers how to fence jewelry. Sarandon is wonderful as the librarian. Her tone of voice is perfect when she says; “you’re not allowed to be in here”. Strong is good as the guy with the role of an arrogant jerk. Peter Sarsgaard is the voice of the robot and it is mesmerizing. Christopher D. Ford wrote a superior script. Jake Schreier directed this team with the perfect tone. The leap of faith to robots of this type was perfectly believable.

Overall: Outstanding film and superbly acted by all.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

First Hit: Enjoyed the acting and some of the shots of New York but the story wasn’t very well told.

It wasn’t until the following morning did I see the integration of the story. Maybe others got it more quickly but I didn’t.

As the credits rolled, I looked at my girlfriend, who made me wait a week to see it, and said, “What did you think?” Paraphrasing, she said it didn’t make sense and didn’t have a point. I saw her point but somewhere I knew it did make sense and had a point.

However, it didn’t come to me until the next day. Maybe I’m slow and the way this film unfolded made it difficult for me to put all the pieces together. However, I see more films than the average audience goer and I find it difficult to believe that I was the problem – but who knows.

Regardless, Michael Douglas reprises his role as Gordon Gekko the Wall Street financier who ended up in jail for insider trading in the first film. When he steps outside of the prison walls there is nobody there to pick him up. While in prison he wrote a best-selling book about his experience and heads out into the world once again.

His daughter Winnie Gekko (played by Carey Mulligan) wants nothing to do with her father, is running a website for alternative energy and lifestyles, and is living with a Wall Street trader named Jack Moore (played by Shia LaBeouf).

Moore is being mentored by an old and long-time street executive named Louis Zabel (played by Frank Langella). Their firm is in trouble and is going down the tubes if they don't get a cash infusion or are bought out. The government will only support a bargain basement buyout by a firm led by Bretton James (played by James Brolin).

Zabel is crushed by the turn of events and commits suicide by jumping in front of a subway train. The company collapses and Moore blames James on the death of both his company and his mentor. Revenge is in the air and when James listens to a talk by Gekko about the state of current Wall Street economics he decides to approach Gekko for his thoughts and assistance.

One of the most amusing scenes in the film is seeing Charlie Sheen reprising his role as Bud Fox from the first film and the exchange of conversation between him and Gekko at a fundraising event.

Douglas is wonderful in this reprised role. The taste and flavor he left on one’s mouth after the first film is, 13 years later, picked right back up again and holds true throughout this film. LaBeouf is engaging and strong as Moore. There isn’t anything great about this performance, yet I can’t think of anyone else who would have brought it together in his age group. Mulligan finally plays an age appropriate part. And here she gives a strong performance. Eli Wallach as Jules Steinhardt is interesting because he controls so much, yet says so little. It is his money that changes the game of the film. Brolin is wonderful as James the overly confident “we’re to big to fail” arrogance of the recent financial failure of Wall Street. Langella is good as the aging man who tried to keep up with the new deal making on Wall Street while stuck in the integrity of the older world. And Susan Sarandon as Jack Moore’s mother clearly portrays the stupidity and greed of buying real estate for an investment versus buying it as a home to live in. Oliver Stone directs this with some visually stunning shots of New York but the film lacks a clear story, is confusing and didn’t really provide the kind of power it could have by exposing the how of the recent financial melt-down.

Overall: Lacked cohesiveness in both its storyline and direction. However, it is definitely worth watching when Douglas in on the screen.