Review 597: Last Flag Flying

Last Flag Flying may not be one of Richard Linklater's finer offerings but it's a touchingly poigent and  drama that gets plenty of millage from its three leads. 

Based on the novel Last Flag Flying by Darryl Ponicsan; In 2003, 30 years after serving in the Vietnam War together, former Navy Corps medic Larry "Doc" Shepherd (Steve Carell) re-unites with former Marines Sal Nelson (Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) for a different type of mission: to bury Doc's son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides forgo a burial at Arlington Cemetery and wit the help of his old friends, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up to 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 continue to shape their lives.

 

Last Flag Flying follows a very straightforward premise, but the 

It deals with patriotism, family and grief.

 

Patriotism: As former marines, Larry, Sal and Richard all served together in Viatnam and now Larry's son has died serving in Iraq

 

Family:

 

Grief: The loss that Larry is feeling because of the death of his son looms heavily 

Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell and Laurence Fishburne are fantastic in this film. As former marines who served together in Viatnam; they're reunited after decades and who need each other in  They have gone in very separate, different and constrasting paths in their lives and they reconnect and figuring out where they are and where the world is now.

Carell, in particular, delivers a moving performance 

Cranston captures the swaggering, profane, charming rogue persona that Sal Nelson is supposed to be. A role that Jack Nicholson could play in his sleep.

 

Laurence Fishburne

4/5.