Last Flag Flying

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

Shame no one saw this film.  It's a beautiful story about redemption, friendship, code, honour and doing the right thing.  The three leads are terrific but especially Bryan Cranston.  He just kills it here and if it had been released at this time of year, he'd be getting Oscar consideration.  Linkletter has written an old school kind of film with a subject that isn't talked about anymore.  Here's a film about three friends who served in Vietnam together and haven't seen each other in 30 years.  They reunite because Doc's son has died while serving his country.  They embark on a cross country trip to bring the casket home and along the way they learn about each other and life in general.  A truly wonderful film.

 

9/10

[WrathOfHan]

Just now, baumer said:

Shame no one saw this film.  It's a beautiful story about redemption, friendship, code, honour and doing the right thing.  The three leads are terrific but especially Bryan Cranston.  He just kills it here and if it had been released at this time of year, he'd be getting Oscar consideration.  Linkletter has written an old school kind of film with a subject that isn't talked about anymore.  Here's a film about three friends who served in Vietnam together and haven't seen each other in 30 years.  They reunite because Doc's son has died while serving his country.  They embark on a cross country trip to bring the casket home and along the way they learn about each other and life in general.  A truly wonderful film.

 

9/10

Well, it was released at this time of year  

[baumer]

It was released in November.....hardly "this time of year".  For Oscar voters, beginning of November might as well be January.

[WrathOfHan]

1 minute ago, baumer said:

It was released in November.....hardly "this time of year".  For Oscar voters, beginning of November might as well be January.

Tell that to Lady Bird which came out on the same exact weekend.

[baumer]

3 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

Tell that to Lady Bird which came out on the same exact weekend.

 

And Lady Bird has made about 32X what LFF has.  No one has seen it and therefore no one is going to remember it.  How about instead of arguing over the release date, maybe you could add something to the review.  Have you seen it?

[Dementeleus]

I've seen it. I mostly agree with Baumer -- I liked it a lot. 

[WrathOfHan]

7 hours ago, baumer said:

 

And Lady Bird has made about 32X what LFF has.  No one has seen it and therefore no one is going to remember it.  How about instead of arguing over the release date, maybe you could add something to the review.  Have you seen it?

People would have seen it if there was more buzz or if it was better recieved.

 

I have not seen it. It managed to hit my area, but at that point I still had to see LB, Coco, and Wonder.

[GeneralKong]

Following a mid-career misfire in Fast Food Nation, Richard Linklater has managed to put any notion of a decline to rest with over a decade's worth of solid work. In comparison to his last couple films, this one feels like a slight step down, but it's still very good nonetheless. It tries a bit too hard to be a buddy comedy at times, with some rather forced early 2000s-centric jokes thrown in. Even so, the film has a fantastic ensemble and still manages to imbue itself with the authenticity that we have come to expect from Linklater. 

 

B+ 

[Avatree]

saw this yesterday at a preview. Had no idea what it was about other than that it was the new Richard Linklater movie. I had only seen a banner ad on box office mojo and it looked like some kind of political drama. Was really pleasantly surprised, it was funny and moving and there's little to complain about. I felt like I could spend hours with these three characters. Linklater just never hits a bad note, he pumps out films on a yearly basis and can do no wrong. He's really one of the best filmmakers today.

[Blankments]

Last Flag Flying is an interesting Linklater film that never really finds its way. All four leads of the ensemble are fantastic; Cranston’s maligned turn is actually a pretty great performance by him, bringing a broad caricature to life in a truly human way. Linklater’s screenplay is characteristically thought-provoking when it’s not being remarkably obvious. It’s just a tad too long and lacks a focus to allow it to be a truly great film. Last Flag Flying might be a Linklater failure, but it still proves to be well worth a watch thanks to the strong performances that bring forth the heart of the film. C+