Last Flag Flying *** ½ / *****
Directed by: Richard Linklater.
Written by: Richard Linklater & Darryl Ponicsan based on the novel by Ponicsan.
Starring: Bryan Cranston (Sal Nealon), Laurence Fishburne (Reverend Richard Mueller), Steve Carell (Larry 'Doc' Shepherd), J. Quinton Johnson (Washington), Deanna Reed-Foster (Ruth), Yul Vazquez (Colonel Wilits), Graham Wolfe (John Redman), Cicely Tyson (Mrs. Hightower).
In retrospect, it’s a little odd that it took so long for Richard Linklater to make a road movie, right? After all, Linklater is a director best known for his hangout movies – movies where the characters don’t really do very much, except sit around and talk. That concept is sometimes hard to make into a movie – but put those characters on a road trip, and what else are they going to do? His Last Flag Flying is not a great road trip movie – not like, say, Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail, to which this is a quasi-sequel – as it hits a few too many clichés a little hard, and veers off into some easy, lame comedy a little too often. But, when it allows the characters to settle down, and simply be with each other, it is another fine example of what Linklater does better than just about any other director working today.
The film is set in 2003. That is when Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down two of his old army buddies from Vietnam with a request. His wife died in January, and now (near the end of the year) he has just received word that his Marine son was killed in Iraq. Despite the fact that he hasn’t seen Sal (Bryan Cranston) or Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) in 30 years (and they haven’t seen each other) – after an unfortunate “incident” that left Doc in the brig for 2 years – he wants his two old friends to travel with him to pick up his son, and have him buried. At first, it seems simple enough – just travel to the cemetery in Arlington, and attend the funeral – but it gets more complicated when Doc decides he wants to take his son home – and bury him next to his wife. Essentially, the trio has to recreate the trip three similar characters took in The Last Detail – the same stops along the way (New York, Boston, etc) – the same worries about missing trains and their per diems, etc.
The movie really isn’t a sequel to The Last Detail. In Ashby’s film, the three main characters didn’t know each other before two of them – played by Jack Nicholson and Otis Young – were assigned to bring “the kid” – played by Randy Quaid to the Brig in Portsmith for the crime of stealing from a charity collection box. Here, the three were buddies, who served in Vietnam together, and the incident that lands “the kid” in jail, was something that happened over there. It would be tough to see why the Kid in The Last Detail would want to reconnect with his two old buddies – after all, The Last Detail is nothing if not cynical – they know the kid is getting a bum deal, and don’t much care, despite how they bond. The ending of that film is far from sentimental – it’s downright harsh and cruel. There is very little of that you could use to describe Last Flag Flying.
This film, like all of Linklater’s work, is deeply humanist. He loves these characters, just like he loves all of his characters – and he gets great performances out of them. Bryan Cranston, stepping into the “Nicholson” role is a tad too theatrical at times throughout the film – he really does lean into the role a little too much – but he still makes Sal lovable, if overbearing. This is the type of role that Fishburne has always done well – and does even better now that he’s older. He’s a man with a past – one that he’s not proud of, but doesn’t deny either – but who has now found God – and speaks with the authority of someone confident in his beliefs. But the film really does belong to Carell – who is quiet and heartbreaking throughout, as a man who has lost everything, and is just barely holding on. There are some supporting turns as well – including the great Cicely Tyson, in a one scene wonder of a performance, and J. Quinton Johnson (who was also quite good in Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! from last year), as Doc’s son’s best friend – assigned to escort the body to its final resting place.
Last Flag Flying is probably a little too long at just over two hours, and some of what I’m sure was meant to be charming and funny banter, comes off as forced at best (I’m sorry, these guys aren’t idiots – they would have known what cell phones were in 2003). Yet, the film does get at some hard truths throughout its runtime, and has a number of great moments and scenes. As a whole, it isn’t up to Linklater’s best work – perhaps it’s focusing on older characters that he is used to, or having source material to try and cater to – but when the film relaxes, and becomes a recognizable Linklater film, it really is quite good.
