Review by Pamela Zoslov
Matt Ross, the 46-year-old writer and director of
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, is a memorable character actor with a flair for eccentric roles.
On HBO's "Big Love," he played Alby Grant, the murderous, closeted gay son of a Mormon cult patriarch. Ross's childhood gave him a natural affinity for stories about nontraditional sects. He lived with his "hippie mom" in nature communes in California, sleeping in a teepee.
Yet in interviews, Ross insists that
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, which stars Viggo Mortensen as Ben Cash, a father of six raising his brood "off the grid" in the forests of the Pacific Northwest — is not autobiographical. In fact all writing, and all art, is to some extent autobiographical, especially that which rhymes so musically with the artist's life.
