Last Flag Flying
Doc decides to forgo a burial at Arlington Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire. Along the way, Doc, Sal and Mueller reminisce and come to terms with shared memories of the war that continues to shape their lives. Director Richard Linklater and author Darryl Ponicsan collaborated on the screenplay which follows the trio as they wrestle with the pangs of war both past and present.
21 August 1975, Steubenville, Ohio, USA
30 July 1961, Augusta, Georgia, USA
5 March 1977, Canton, Ohio, USA
18 December 1924, New York City, New York, USA
December 15, 2017
Somber and sorrowful...instead of sentimentality, it's thought-provoking, a very different kind of war film...
November 24, 2017
While Last Flag Flying has moments of lightness and levity, it's ultimately a sombre and moving tale about the trials that life throws in our path and how we move on with a little help from our friends.
November 16, 2017
Last Flag Flying lacks the casual, lived-in realism you usually find in a Linklater film. You don't buy the men as long-separated pals, and so you don't really buy the premise the connection that caused Doc to seek out these men is not visible on screen.
December 12, 2017
A heartfelt story about male friendship. Carell, Fishbourne and especially Cranston are all at the top of their game.
December 19, 2017
This road picture's many detours, the stuff that should be right in Linklater's wheelhouse, mostly feel, well, like vexing delays.
November 24, 2017
The film ... seems uncertain of its own unusualness as Linklater eventually opts for a piece that is little more than a road movie and its rhythm stalls.
November 23, 2017
"Last Flag Flying" is about the lies we tell ourselves, the lies the government tells us, the fights we fight and how they all inform the memories we mold.
December 18, 2017
There's pleasure in watching these performers, even if they sometimes seem to be acting in different movies.
December 08, 2017
Indeed, the ending, somewhat enigmatic and oddly abrupt, brings to bear a peculiar plot element that frankly could have more or less resolved practically everything else in the film had it only come a few days earlier, as it clearly should have.
November 17, 2017
While conventional in execution and its underlying anti-war/pro-soldier sentiments, "Flag" nevertheless is buttressed by a warm humanity and stirring performances from Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne and, especially, Steve Carell.
December 11, 2017
If a viewer isn't familiar with The Last Detail then Last Flag Flying gets by as an okay grumpy old soldiers tragicomedy. The rest of us know better because we've seen far better.
November 22, 2017
Neither an indictment nor an endorsement of war, "Last Flag Flying" reclaims patriotism as a uniter, not a divider.
