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.
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
Ben and Leslie Cash live largely off the grid with their offspring -- Bodevan, Kielyr, Vespyr, Rellian, Zaja and Nai -- in a cabin in the mountains of Washington state. The parents have passed their socialist and survivalist ideals to their children. Ben considers most of Western society to be fascist, especially corporate America. He also believes that no one will or should be there for you, so you'd better learn how to take care of yourself. As such, the children have been subject to vigorous physical training; know how to deal with minor bumps, bruises, cuts, sprains, and even fractures; and know how to hunt, forage, and grow their own food. The children are also non-registered home schooled, meaning that they have no official academic records. Ben and Leslie have tried to make the children critical thinkers, however, within the context of their ideals. Beyond these issues, Ben and Leslie made the decision to live this lifestyle for Leslie's health. Formerly an attorney, Leslie was...Written by
Huggo
One of the baby pictures taped to the school bus walls is of Viggo Mortensen's own son, Henry. See more »
Goofs
During the funeral scene, Dave and Harper (Steve Zahn and Kathryn Hahn) sit next to each other, and in between shots Dave's hand jumps from being behind Harper to holding her shoulder. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Ben:
[family gathers around the slain deer]
Today, the boy is dead. And in his place... is a man.
Bo:
[rips off a bloody bite of the offered morsel]
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This is simply the best movie I have seen since Shawshank Redemption. It tells the story of a family living in the wilderness who are forced to face modern society. Its funny, with a pinch of sad, and a huge dollop of thought-provoking.
Matt Ross is a genius who has found his voice and style in this film. The direction is just incredible. The script has all the fluff stripped out so it moves along at a great pace. It is edited to perfection so every scene draws you further in. It feels like "Into The Wild" as directed by Clint Eastwood. I have been going around telling random people about how great this movie is and how it will clean up at the Oscars.
I don't see it appealing to everyone however. That is what makes it such a great film because no one left the screening ambivalent. The open-minded Austin, Texas audience was vastly in the Fantastic camp, but I can see this film is not going to go down well everywhere with everyone. If it did, it would be some fluff piece and not the classic it is destined to be.
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This is simply the best movie I have seen since Shawshank Redemption. It tells the story of a family living in the wilderness who are forced to face modern society. Its funny, with a pinch of sad, and a huge dollop of thought-provoking.
Matt Ross is a genius who has found his voice and style in this film. The direction is just incredible. The script has all the fluff stripped out so it moves along at a great pace. It is edited to perfection so every scene draws you further in. It feels like "Into The Wild" as directed by Clint Eastwood. I have been going around telling random people about how great this movie is and how it will clean up at the Oscars.
I don't see it appealing to everyone however. That is what makes it such a great film because no one left the screening ambivalent. The open-minded Austin, Texas audience was vastly in the Fantastic camp, but I can see this film is not going to go down well everywhere with everyone. If it did, it would be some fluff piece and not the classic it is destined to be.