Captain Fantastic

Stories about children being raised outside mainstream society pop up every now and then. In the majority of cases there is a questioning over whether or not what is happening in these places is abusive to the kids. Society tends to look down on them because they happen to take place in far right political communities. Writer/director Matt Ross takes this idea to the other end of the political spectrum to see if we'd be okay with kids growing up in a super intellectual anti-capitalist camp in the woods.

Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) raises his five kids in the woods, teaching them how to survive, but at the same time giving them the education of university students. After discovering that his wife, who had been hospitalised with bipolar disorder, has killed herself, he decides to take his kids to the funeral so that they can act on her final wishes. While the children are thrust into a world they don't fully understand, Ben clashes with his wife's father Jack (Frank Langella) about the right way to raise his kids.

Captain Fantastic is a strange movie to watch. While it has an overall positive and feel good message about doing things your own way, it feels a bit off, almost as if it is not as politicised as it already is (or should be). Probably the best thing about it is the casting. Both Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella are perfectly cast. Mortensen is the kind of person who you could readily believe that he would be able to survive without modern society, but that probably has to do with the fact that he is always typecast in these type of roles. George MacKay, who plays Ben's oldest child Bodevan, is amazing as the wide eyed teen who has only had small glimpses of the outside world.

I suppose that the biggest fault of the movie is that the main character isn't particularly endearing. He barely shows any emotion until the final moments of the film. This lack of endearment makes the film a bit of struggle because apart from the children, no characters have any redeemable points. The film is a tad laborious for the fact that it doesn't really have enough to say about the world. It only exists because it was made.

Perhaps Matt Ross, who is better known for his roles in American Psycho, Face/Off and, more recently, Silicon Valley, should stick to acting. While this isn't his first hand at directing, it's not a very good result. Reasons to see this are limited to performances from Viggo Mortensen and George MacKay, but that's about it.

Tomorrowland

"Every day is the opportunity for a better tomorrow."

Brad Bird is a Disney favourite, having written and directed both The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Bird's first live-action foray for Disney is Tomorrowland, set in a futuristic world  where innovation is a treasured skill. The story has been inspired by Disney's concept 'worlds'/amusement rides 

In 1964, Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson) is a young inventor with somewhat working jetpack. However Frank's work fails to inspire David Nix (Hugh Laurie), who fails to see it as anything more than a toy. Frank's invention draws the eye of Athena (Raffey Cassidy) who sees his potential and provides him with a "T" pin. When Frank boards the "It's a Small World" ride, he's sent through a vortex into a futuristic world known as Tomorrowland. Blast forward several years and Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is similarly enthusiastic about science and innovation. Athena repeats the same process with her and she travels to Tomorrowland to meet the older Frank Walker (George Clooney).

The fact that the pathway for Frank to get to the world of Tomorrowland happens to be a Disneyland ride says it all. This overtly optimistic, ambiguous mess of a film is full of fancy gadgets that I'm sure will make for great pieces of merchandise, but it fails to engage with any sort of quality storytelling. The core message that Bird is trying to get across to the younger audience is that imagination and innovation can make the world a better place, undoubtedly two of Disney's own strong points - They've played a key role in filmmaking technology over the years - and a worthy message it is, however it gets lost in the diluted plot lines, weird Disneyfied scenes of teenager 'rebellion' and a utopia that's ultimately as soulless as the characters that inhabit it.

With a massive budget and CGI focused imagery, Tomorrowland certainly looks gorgeous, which is one of its only strong points. The world itself pops from the screen and some of the elements feel a little steam-punk. However this is all ultimately rather superficial when the weak plot can't support the depth of the visuals. Character development is minimal at best, however the performances were decent enough. George Clooney is his usual self so his fans should be happy. I absolutely love Hugh Laurie and he makes the best of the material at his disposal. Also noteworthy is Thomas Robinson who plays the young Frank very well.

Tomorrowland is a bit of a mess, but hopefully it will inspire some kids to embrace imagination and innovation, because it's certainly not got much else going for it.

This Is Where I Leave You

As I have mentioned before here and here and I think maybe here, I'm a huge fan of movies about families. Doubly so if they're about dysfunctional families. I think it's because I come from a slightly dysfunctional one myself (sorry guys, if you're reading this). Anyway, that is what drew me into this movie.

Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) finds out that his wife is cheating on him with his boss. This comes just before Judd finds out that his father has died. His mother Hillary (Jane Fonda) wants to honour his last wishes by holding the Jewish practice of shiva, which is ironic because they are all atheist. During shiva, they must all stay together for a week. The rest of the family, Paul (Corey Stoll), Wendy (Tina Fey) and Philip (Adam Driver) all have their problems with each other, making the week extremely hard to get through.

I think this movie has my dream cast. All the actors in the rate among my favourites. Jason Bateman is back to his funny ways in a role not too similar to Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, but you can definitely see how this role is so easy for him. Tina Fey is a delight to watch in this and plays a much more sweeter character than some of her more recent roles. Corey Stoll (House of Cards) is great to watch in a comedy although he is a bit more of a straight-laced character.

Adam Driver is a lot of fun in this movie and a lot more wacky than some of the things he has been in and Ben Schwartz who plays the rabbi known only as "Boner" is great as Philip's foil. Schwartz has to be one of the funniest improv actors around (along with Thomas Middleditch) and is just great in this movie. Timothy Olyphant, who I have admired ever since seeing The Girl Next Door, plays a fantastic character who has a touching relationship with Tina Fey.

While the movie does seem to be a great comedy on surface, the movie does have overarching themes of family and taking risks in your life. These moments are sometimes interjected by jokes, but that doesn't interfere with the pacing at all, instead it makes the film more poignant and funnier.

Verdict: A great comedy-drama filled with some wonderful characters and fantastically hilarious moments.

We're The Millers

We're the Millers does an unconventional take on the family road trip movie. There are some elements that people will recognise, but for the most part, you won't.

David (Jason Sudeikis) is a low-level drug dealer working for Brad Gurlinger (Ed Helms), a crazy drug baron who likes to show off his wealth. One day, David gets his stash and money stolen by some thugs and ends up being blackmailed by Brad to do some smuggling for him. He enlists the help of his neighbour, Kenny (Will Poulter), a runaway, Casey (Emma Roberts), and a stripper who lives in his building, Rose (Jennifer Aniston). They pose as a family to bring the drugs to the States from Mexico in a RV. They soon discover that they stole the drugs from an equally crazed Mexican baron, Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley), and race to get to Denver before they can be stopped.

This movie is a lot funnier than what I expected. There are a lot of jokes about regular family road trips, but also jokes about how this group isn't a real family. One hilarious ongoing joke involves a weed baby.

Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live, Horrible Bosses) is a great leading man in this comedy and you can see that he is really comfortable doing improvisation, because I'm sure most of his priceless one-liners couldn't be written, even by the funniest comedy writers.

It was amazing to see America's sweetheart Jennifer Aniston play a foul mouthed role. It's always refreshing to see actors go against the grain and take a role that no one's seen them do before. Aniston is  just plain funny as she really gets into the role of trying to be a fake mother to this family. She sort of reminds me of Catherine O'Hara in Orange County.

Will Poulter has been consistently funny throughout his career. He was hilarious in the British sketch show School of Comedy and now he has proven that he can be funny in a feature length film. I look forward to seeing a lot more of him in future.

I know Emma Roberts (Scream 4) has been working in Hollywood for years, but prior to this, none of her films have appealed to me. That's not to say that she isn't a good actress, because this film clearly shows that she is.

Verdict: A genuinely funny and original comedy that will appeal to anyone who's ever been on a family road trip. Or smuggled drugs.