Flag Day

This movie just had a ho hum on it from the get-go. Good acting but just a boring story, and it never really explains itself... stuff just happens. I mean you don't just get to point B without a soluble A in there to make it all happen... and did they have boat-cars in the 70's? Maybe I guess... just a weird kinda movie bout a family and their demons and struggles... that's it. Not the worst,, not the best... a 5 star movie.

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.

I read the reviews and considered not watching. However, the preview sold me, and I'm glad it did. This is a solid movie with a solid story.

Dylan Penn has talent, just like her dad, and she carries this film along. I expect to see much more of her in the future.

You know, I get it. We all have different tastes in film. But I just love a slow burn. This film is slow, but in such a good way. It is intentionally slow. The main characters are developed and real. The pace of the movie allowed a beautiful and tragic story to be told and it is deeply felt by the viewer.

I loved most of the soundtrack. Also the flashbacks were easy to follow. Some of the film played out like a fuzzy dream, and I loved it. The cinematography is beautiful.

This is not a film deserving of a 10, but it certainly deserves a higher rating than the current. If you're looking for men flying around in brightly colored underwear and shooting lasers from their eyes, than this is not the film for you. But if you are patient, appreciate beauty and have an open heart, then watch this film.

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.

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.