NYFF 2017 // A FILM REVIEW OF "LAST FLAG FLYING"
For a dialogue driven film, there's no one better at it than Richard Linklater. He of the BEFORE SUNRISE/SUNSET/MIDNIGHT, WAKING LIFE, & BOYHOOD. The man who tackles head on into any genre he feels like telling a story in. And so he takes on the buddy road film and a War retrospective with the somber LAST FLAG FLYING. We follow Larry "Doc" Shepherd (played with a quiet authority by Steve Carell) as he revisits two old buddies from the war (that war being Vietnam): Sal Nealon (a foulmouthed and drunken Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (a humble now preacher Laurence Fishburne). They share between them a lot of good memories, and a lot of nightmarish ones as well. Doc has a favor to ask them, and he simply can't take no for an answer. And that answer is what sends the three of them on a road trip together.
Doc's son enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and subsequently died in Baghdad. The military described it as an ambush and Doc needs to bring his boy home. So, he enlists the help of his old war buddies to help build up the courage he needs to get this done. And through this long overdue reunion, each of the three men find themselves, even though they didn't realize they were searching for anything at all. Linklater stages the entire affair grounded in a somber tone but flourishes it with light and humor. He makes you feel like these men need each other, at least for now they do. Last Flag Flying is also a spiritual sequel, if you will, to the 1973 Hal Ashby film The Last Detail which starred Jack Nicholson. It was based on a novel by Darryl Ponicsan and the sequel to that book is the basis of this film. The names aren't the same, nor are the events, but the feeling is, as is the mix of tone. Last Flag Flying is a thought provoking film, sometimes warm, sometimes meandering and sometimes heartbreaking. You don't have to have been in a war to know that it's hell, and these men have certainly seen hell. It's the living moments that happen after that are truly the hardest, and even if the film doesn't always land completely on solid ground, it shines a lot of life into the moments in between and warmly invites you on the journey.
VERDICT: SEE IT