Flag Day

As soon as this movie was over both my wife and I said, "I sure am glad I didn't listen to the several very negative reviews." This is a really good movie, it really is Jennifer's story, how she overcame very bad situations in her growing up, both with her father and with her mother. It is a true story and now Jennifer has a family and works as an investigative reporter and is working on her first novel.

The movie is set mostly in Minnesota (filmed in Canada) and the title is a reference to the celebration of Flag Day, with a parade and fireworks. The movie goes back and forth, at times in 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1992 mostly. It is done in a way that it is easy to keep track.

We watched it at home on DVD from our public library. I am neither a big fan of Sean Penn nor a detractor, but to me he is brilliant here as the duplicitous dad who you could never trust to be truthful. And Dylan, his daughter in real life, is really good in the role of the teenage and adult Jennifer.

It's not that the story isn't good - it's just told in an extremely drawn out way - they just tried way too hard to make it artistic. Dylan Penn was fantastic but I feel like the 8000 close ups of her face weren't to the films credits - more like her dad was directing and wanting to showcase her. Great soundtrack- but again - entire songs played practically. Sean Penn is a great actor and he played the part well - it's just too bad this was a drag to watch - if you're fast forwarding because it's so slow that's not a good thing.

Understand this is based on a true story .. but yeah boring, the film is based on the point of view of the daughter ideolizing her father. The double life that the father might have had is not explain, nor demonstrated if not at all. The Genre: Thriller attached to this movie is totally fake. It just a boring drama. The soundtrack is not elevating it either.

It would seems that the only thing that Sean Penn is doing quite well in this movie is promoting his daughter as an actress, and he does not do the same for his son, putting a fake hair on his head making sure we know he just there for show.

Just couldn't hold my interest, to the point I actually stopped 38 minutes in tobgo do laundry. Moved so slowly yet jumped around so much I couldn't develop any kind of relationship with any character. Bored.

As "Flag Day" (2021 release; 108 min.) opens, it is "June, 1992" and John (the character played by Sean Penn) is being chased by a police helicopter and a slew of police cars. Along the way we are reminded that the film is "based on a true story". We then go back in time to "Summer 1975", where we get to know John and his daughter Jennifer, then 11 yrs young, as he teaches her how to drive a car (she sits on his lap and he falls asleep, no, really). At home, John is fighting a lot with his wife, much to the chagrin of Jennifer and her brother Nick. At this point we are 10 min into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the first film where Sean Penn directs AND stars (he has directed others before, at times with excellent result, look no further than "Into The Wild"). Here he brings to the big screen the memoir of Jessica Vogel about the complicated relationship with her dad and the rest of the family. While in and of itself this could make for a great film, I'm sorry to report that it didn't happen. There are several factors: first, none of the main characters are all that likeable to begin with. Second, the script is simply very uneven and somehow cannot reel us in to the story. Third, the film's photography is horrendous: quasi non-stop extreme close-ups, with hand-held camera work, and constantly in and out of focus "artsy" looks, resulting in a quasi headache inducing viewing experience. You just wonder: WHY? On the plus side, it is great to see the Penn family, oozing with acting talent. Besides Sean, there is his daughter Dylan (playing Jennifer) and his son Hopper (as Nick). All that said, I was quite disappointed with the film, after seeing the promising trailer in recent weeks. It feels like a lost opportunity.

"Flag Day" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to mixed reviews. It premiered in US theaters this weekend and I couldn't wait to see it. The Tuesday early evening screening where I saw this at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati turned out to be a private screening: I was literally the only person in the theater. Given that "Flag Day" is unlikely to pick up strong word of mouth, I don't see this playing in theaters much longer. But of course don't take my word for it. If you are a fan of Sean Penn or Dylan Penn, I'd suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.