Last Flag Flying

How do you live a normal life, after coming home from a war ?

A lot of soldiers worldwide, have been through many wars, and even if the war is finished, they remember so many things. It is hard to imagine, how hard it must be to come back home, after seeing people being brutally killed. Can you really switch it all off and just live a normal happy life with your family ? How do you deal with ordinary day life, after a very long time in misery, darkness and fear ? These are questions that only soldiers can answer, since we who have not been in war have no idea how they feel. But i must say, i have always been interested in historical wars. We could discuss many different wars, but let´s focus a moment on one of them. Vietnam War, a war that caused a lot of chaos, too many victims and a lot of political issues. I was not born at the time when the Vietnam War was active, but i did read about the war, and watched plenty of documentaries. To me it became very clear, that America probably thought they could win this war. But it felt like the Vietnamese people were more prepared, and perhaps more willing to do anything to win the war. I could be wrong, but that is just the way i feel. Hollywood knew that they could tell very important stories from the Vietnam War, and director Francis Ford Coppola made sure to make one of the most epic war movies ever. His film Apocalypse Now is one of those masterpieces, that will always be known as one of the best films of the 70´s. The amazing cast of Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn and many others. We have to mention the masterpiece The Deer Hunter from director Michael Cimino, where steel workers go over to fight in the Vietnam War. The performances from the cast of Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage and Meryl Streep are all oustanding, and the film gives you a very realistic image of how the war affected the soldiers. In late 2017, i was hearing some positive reviews on a new film called Last Flag Flying from director Richard Linklater ( who directed the very funny film School Of Rock, and the unique film A Scanner Darkly ). A story about Vietnam War veterans, with a great cast of Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne. With a talented director and a really good cast, is Last Flag Flying a positive surprise, or is this a drama film you will most likely forget completely ?

In the year 2003, Larry " Doc " Shepherd ( Steve Carell ) travels a long way to his old war veteran friend Sal Nealon ( Bryan Cranston ), a bar owner. They have a good time together, since they have not met in many years. Larry have a surprise for Sal, and takes him to a church. Here Sal is shocked to see that their old veteran friend Richard Mueller ( Laurence Fishburne ) is a Reverend, who have his own congregation. Larry asks his friends, if they would accompany him to collect his son Larry Jr´s body and take him to a scheduled burial. His son was killed in Iraq. Sal agree to go with him, while Richard is not sure. However, Richard´s wife Ruth Mueller ( Deanna Reed-Foster ) persuade her husband to go with his old friends, and help them. This will be a journey for old friends, that will give them a chance to find each other again, after so many years have passed by.

If there is one thing that Last Flag Flying manage to do really well, it is bringing 3 very interesting characters together on screen. And this is something very important. Usually in most films, you get a few interesting characters, divided throughout the whole film. But here we get 3 of them, and they have a lot of screen time together. And to follow these three Vietnam veterans around, is both emotional and entertaining. Old friendship will always last, no matter how many years go by. You can fight, you can be mad at each other, but eventually you realise that you belong together. And for war veterans that survived a war together, they need to look after each other. All the three actors Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne deliver solid performances, from three very different personalities. Each of them have experienced the war, and have their memories of their time together. The funniest dialogue is delivered by legendary actor Bryan Cranston as the bar owner Sal. He want to continue enjoying life with alcohol, and not grow too old. Steve Carell is the shy, and friendly Doc, who care about everyone. You can see his grief, after he lost his son in war. Laurence Fishburne is the pastor Richard who have moved on with his life, but realise that old friends never die. There is a really funny scene on board a train, where the war veterans tell a young marine about the whore houses of Vietnam. It is important to remember the good times, and these three men have gone through a lot together. This is a dramatic story that is good, but there is a lot of dialogue scenes. So there are parts of the film where it takes time to get through conversations. Other than that i don´t really see any problems. Director Richard Linklater´s movie adaptation of the novel ( with the same title ) by author Darryl Poniscan, is a drama film with important issues. He manage to balance the serious issues well, and also manage to mix it up with a good sense of humour. Last Flag Flying is a film especially for you who enjoy good acting performances, and realistic stories. Nice to see a film that care about war veterans as well, and how important it is to enjoy life.

Rating: DDD