Last Flag Flying (2017)

Last Flag Flying (2017) A great, low-key mixture of comedy and sadness. The more it went on the more I appreciated the situation, which unfolds like a play, and the ensemble acting, which is sharp. Bryan Cranston steals the show as the outgoing practical bartender veteran, but Laurence Fishburne and Steve Carell are really spot on, too, in deliberately restrained ways. The film is trying to get to something here. At first it seems to be about some guys coming to terms with their time in Viet Nam, and how it compromised them then, with repurcussions ever onward. Then a slow critique of war and of the US approach to war, pretending everyone in uniform is always a hero, and fighting for questionable (or worse) causes. But an important third element grows-the actual meaning these men have for each other. They hadn't seen each other in decades, but their comraderie was almost unbroken because of some deep bond formed in wartime. And when it really comes down to it, even as they reject and hate the government for what they were forced to do, they still understood honor and respect. Including a love of country, somehow. That it's there, despite the flaws. Or something like that. (There are complications, and it would be easy and shameful to oversimplify.) The big point is: see this and give it time to settle in and warm up. The three men are deliberately an odd mix, and there are a couple of scenes that are rather too neatly contrived to make a fast point in the narrative, but overall it makes sense and is moving.

I agree with one of the commentators here: I think the movie originated from a great idea but it was executed poorly. More than three decades later, three Vietnam veterans get together again after the son of one of them dies on duty in Iraq. All three men have different personalities and add their own flavor to the plot and this is all good, but a lack of seriousness disturbs you throughout most of the movie. It's nice to see Steve Carrell out of comedy movies, but his character seems too relaxed for a father who just recently lost his son. Bryan Cranston is shining in his portrayal of the care-free, live today think tomorrow type character, and I felt like Laurence Fishburne could do a lot better if his character was written with more attention.

Greetings from Lithuania."Last Flag Flying" (2017) has to say something about war and politics. It does not like either of them. What i did like about this movie was not its message, perhaps, but acting and writing. On its core its a 2 hours road movie with some war veterans who share some dark secret. There are no revelations at the end of they journey, but there is some sort of accomplishment of what they did on the road.Overall, while "Last Flag Flying" isn't as good as Richard Linklater's previous movies (far from it), i did enjoy this picture entirely because of veteran actors doing good job and reading fine lines. This is a very anti-war movie without a war and a solid road drama.

Dramatic, poignant, serious, and yet delightfully light hearted. It's about young men at war and the old men returned from war and their memories and the remarkably incommon issues they have handled and moved forward each in their own way. As a retired military combat veteran myself I loved it. The acting is superb by all the players and the story is just memorable and touching in a good way. Needless to say again I loved it for so many reasons. Also, in my view it's an exceptional story of how young men change and adapt to life circumstances whether they are combat veteran or not.