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When looking at the total body of work of writer/director/producer Richard Linklater, it would appear that this is a guy that relishes on throwing the movie going public constant curveballs. From the indie darling "Slacker," (which people like Kevin Smith cite as a film that helped them become a filmmaker to begin with) to the "Before" trilogy with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, cult hits like "Dazed and Confused" and "SubUrbia" and the Oscar darling "Boyhood," his diversity in storytelling is one that makes sure that can challenge both himself and the audience. When I found out that his latest venture was adapting and directing Darryl Poniscan's novel (which Poniscan also helped with the screenplay) "Last Flag Flying," I was definitely intrigued by yet another left turn for Linklater.

In this film set near the end of 2003, Steve Carell plays Larry "Doc" Shepherd, who shows up at the bar owned by Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) after not seeing each other for almost thirty years since they served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam together. With shared experiences that they are not sure they want to talk about, they seek out their third running buddy from those days in Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne), who is now a reverend in a small church. As they are all catching up with each other, Shepherd drops on them his reason for getting together: his son (a Marine himself) has been killed overseas, and he wants Mueller and Nealon to come with him to not only help bury him but along the way heal themselves and each other.

This film was a pleasant surprise for me. The vibe that I got from the one sheet and reading about it was one where I thought would venture into darkness and politics quickly and for the duration of the two hours that it would be on the screen. While there is not much more than a smattering of preachiness here, it is Poniscan's story of these three characters that is relied on to keep things moving, as it should be. These three actors are such powerhouses in their own rights that their work together makes this story even more powerful and even fun. There are some great comedic moments, driven mostly by Cranston's character, that keep the balance of "Last Flag Flying" in perfect harmony with its drama and emotion.

There is also a "name to watch" here in J. Quinton Johnson. Mainly known for being one of the victims of the horrid "Dirty Dancing" experiment earlier this year, don't let that fool you. This young man, as the best friend of Shepherd's son who was there with him when he passed, shows amazing emotional range and compassion that shines through even as he shares the frame with some of the biggest actors of the last three decades. His performance is truly impressive, and I look for much bigger things for him in the future.

Amazon Studios continues to gain steam with their cinematic choices, and along with Lionsgate, they have another winner with "Last Flag Flying". Releasing over Veterans' Day weekend, this is a very respectful and engaging telling of a tale of our service men and women both current and former that runs the gambit of emotion and is truly a great way to spend a couple of hours in any form.

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.

Richard Linklater on Last Flag Flying: 'We're not meant to kill. We're not cut out for it' I agree. This film hits the right tone, respectful to the men who have served this country, while also pointing out the futility of war. The ensemble cast is brilliant: Steve Carell does such a subtle job with a great deal of poignancy and what can you say about Bryan Cranston's burned out veteran who is constantly looking for a good time, while Laurence Fishburne is marvelous as a pastor. Such a wonderful film... another great film by Linklater.

This film was excellent. For a drama, it had a lot of light moments. Bryan Cranston, Lawrence Fishburne, Steve Carrell and J. Quinton Johnson were great. As a Vietnam Veteran, I related to this very well. I won't give any spoilers here but it touched home for me. A movie worth seeing.

Vietnam vet Larry "Doc" Shepherd (Steve Carell) tracks down a pair of his old military friends: foul-mouthed and hard-drinking barkeep Sal (Bryan Cranston), and minister Mueller (Laurence Fishburne). Doc asks his two friends to accompany him to pick up the remains of his son, a Marine killed in Iraq. The three men set out on an odyssey to have the young man buried and to perhaps put some old ghosts to rest themselves.

This was based on the 2003 novel by Darryl Ponicsan, which was a sequel to his 1970 novel The Last Detail, which was memorably filmed in 1973 with Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, and Randy Quaid. Linklater, who co-wrote the script with Ponicsan, decided to alter this follow-up in several ways, changing the character names and a lot of their back story, but the essential dynamic is the same. I enjoyed this film well enough, but as a big fan of The Last Detail, I spent much of this movie's runtime comparing it, and wondering what might have been had this been filmed 15 years ago and with the original film's cast returning to their roles (Otis Young passed away in 2001, before the sequel novel was published). Seeing at least Nicholson and Quaid return in those roles would have been really something else.

All that aside, this is still a largely enjoyable movie, with good performances and some nice, quiet character moments. The film seems to want to say something about veterans, and what they feel and how they deal with the rest of their lives, and how they end up viewing their country that they sacrificed for but who may have ultimately been lying to them. However, the script doesn't put these thoughts together in a clear enough fashion to be making any kind of definitive statement, but it may be the case that there really isn't one. It's odd to think that a movie set in 2003 is a period piece, but it is, and much is made of a visit by the three aging buddies to a cell phone store to check out the new-fangled technology. I'm curious how this movie will be viewed by actual Vietnam-era military veterans.