Last Flag Flying

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source: Last Flag Flying

Larry 'Doc' Shepherd (Steve Carell) tracks down sarcastic bar owner Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston). At first, Sal doesn't recognize Vietnam War acquaintance Doc. They go track down fellow vet Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne). Doc reveals that his marine son was killed in Iraq 2 days earlier and is set to be buried at Arlington Cemetery. I am a big fan of Richard Linklater. He certainly has a tendency to lean towards some experimentation. I am most disappointed in the flat, extended nature of this movie. With these three great actors, I expected much much more and there is no reason to take two hours to get there. Nevertheless, these are great actors. It may have helped if some flashbacks of the Vietnam days be included. The movie has a rambling unfocused nature which is not helped by the simple filmmaking. I'm fine with Carell's quiet suffering but I wanted an explosion somewhere. Cranston tries his best to be irreverent. Fishburne is cool. I don't necessarily have any big problems but I want better.

I thought this was one of director Richard Linklater's best films, as he also co-wrote the screenplay with Darryl Poniscan, from whose book the movie is based. The three leads here Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne give terrific performances, with Yul Vasquez and J. Quinton Johnson adding well to the mix in supporting roles. This film can be dark, crass, and very unsettling one moment but also be poignant and laced with humor that works more often than not. Also, the movie can be brutally anti-military at times, yet strongly patriotic as well. Somehow, the filmmakers managed to blend all of this together effectively. All in all, I found this to be an exceptional film that stayed with me long after it was over.

Great movie with a good story line. It's kind of sentimental but in a nice way- you won't mind sobbing over it.

I just saw this in a packed theater at the SCAD Savannah Film Fest and liked it even better than I thought I would. It's a great buddy film that isn't full of gross out gags and appeals to both sexes because it is so funny with dramatic/touching moments. The cast is great (as expected) but so is the writing and directing. Definitely a film for grownups of all generations.

This was an enjoyable movie. I think it was deep when it needed to be and light when it needed it. I laughed and I would almost came to tears (and I don't normally do that). I followed the story line and it was eventful. I will say it felt like a long time to finally get to the burial but it was a fun adventure. Breaking Bad star was amazing and funny. Lawrence did a great job playing his part. And Steve did amazing. Great display of emotions and carried his part nicely. Good movie to watch. I was not in the military so I am not as sensitive to how the marines were portrayed in this movie but I know that they make a huge sacrifice for serving for our country and I have nothing but respect for all military branches. I felt good after leaving this movie and you will too.

Greetings again from the darkness. Apprehension and trepidation are the emotions that strike whenever anyone compares a movie to the classic 1973 Hal Ashby/ Jack Nicholson film THE LAST DETAIL. That holds true even if the novel the film is based on was written by the same author (Darryl Ponicson) who wrote "The Last Detail" (1970), and even if the new film is directed by one of the finest directors working today – Richard Linklater. This latest doesn't play like a true sequel, but the reuniting of three men who served together in Vietnam does hammer home a couple of interesting statements while also delivering the type of dramedy that 2017 audiences tend to connect with. Larry "Doc" Shepherd (Steve Carell), a former Navy medic, has had the type of year that no one deserves. It's 2003 and he has just been notified that his Marine son was killed in action while on duty in the war in Iraq. This comes only a few months after Doc lost his beloved wife to breast cancer. It's too much for him to handle on his own, so he embarks on a mission to ask his Vietnam buddies from three decades prior to accompany him to claim his son's body at Arlington National Cemetery. His two buddies are former Marines Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishbourne). Sal is a washed out dive bar owner and Mueller is now the Reverend at a small church. The three men share the burden of a war secret that each has tried to forget, and they begin what's basically a road trip movie of middle aged men bonding during what is the absolute low point in life for one of them. Simultaneously, it also seems like an opportunity for all three to rejoin the living. Lost idealism is the shared trait now among the three men, though their levels of cynicism vary. Edwin Starr sang it, and the characters in this movie openly question: War … What is it good for? Doc, Sal and Mueller have separated themselves from memories of war in three distinct ways – family, booze, and God. It's only by reconnecting with each other that they begin the long overdue process of reflection. TV's are tuned to the capture of Saddam Hussein from the spider-hole, and the similarities of the Vietnam and Iraq wars are contemplated. These are patriotic men who once trusted the government, but are now so disenchanted they ask "what's the point?" Mr. Cranston has the showiest role, but it's Mr. Carell who shines as the still-in-shock father. J Quinton Johnson also excels as the young Marine charged with accompanying the gentlemen, and the best scene of the film features Cicely Tyson as the mother of a long ago fallen soldier who crossed paths with the three leads. As you might expect in a Linklater movie, the musical choices are unusual and spot on. Bob Dylan ("Not Dark Yet"), Neil Young ("Old Man"), Eminem ("Without Me"), and Levon Helm ("Wide River to Cross") are all included. The film is certainly an unusual blend of comedy, tragic drama, and contemporary political commentary. Unfortunately, the contrivances are too many and too frequent to allow the film and characters to breathe and achieve the greatness of a true message movie. It teases us with flashes us brilliance and then pokes us in the ribs with another goofy sidebar as if to say "just kidding". It seems this would have been better served as an intimate portrayal of these three aging men who were willing to die for their country than as a giant political anti-war statement and an accusation of how evil the government is. The ultimate message Linklater drills home: be a good friend, and be a good person. We can never have enough of those.

Average soapy melodrama of three Veterans reuniting 30 years later is lifted by "Rick" Linklater and Darryl Ponicsan's writing and great performances by Bryan Cranston as a bar owner and Laurence Fishburne as a minister, more than main character Steve Carell. Three former Vietnam servicemen meet 30 years later in 2003 when one of their sons is killed serving in Iraq. The three travel to Arlington and Delaware to see the body, destined for Boston. Carell's son, he is told, "died with honor serving his country." As he mourns, his two friends learn what really happened from the soldier's best friend, a young marine escorting the body. He didn't die in battle. He was shot at a public market by a local when they went to buy soft drinks during their mission moving supplies for Iraqi schools. After he demands to see his deceased son, he is so emotionally affected that the three decide to bring the body back home themselves, rather than let the military hold a funeral and burial. This provides some mediocre humor in a few scenes with devious Cranston being the wild card, taking over the transportation, buying his friends their first cell phones and the three being chased by Homeland Security. The story inspires us with the camaraderie of these three marines who survived to reminisce of their other close friend who did not. It shows the secrets of war and how our fallen heroes may have died through different circumstances than their families were told. Such as their own friend killed in Vietnam while the other three were being irresponsible and not protecting each other. They visit his mother who thinks her son died saving them. As they sit on her couch they hide the truth. Should they reveal that her son's death may have been partly their fault or let her continue to believe what the government told her 30 years ago?