Balanced, bleak look at brothers in arms
Last Flag Flying (out of 4) Starring Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, Laurence Fishburne. Written and directed by Richard Linklater. 125 minutes. Opens Friday at the Scotiabank Toronto. 14A
It’s a father’s last duty to a son lost too soon.
But Larry “Doc” Sheppard, recently widowed, knows he can’t do it alone. And so, still reeling from shock and with a heart heavy with grief, he tracks down two old comrades from his own days as a soldier in Vietnam 30 years before.
It’s 2003, and Doc’s son is being returned from the war zone in Iraq ostensibly to a fallen hero’s welcome and an honoured burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
But the military’s best-laid plans are thwarted when Doc learns his son didn’t die in combat as reported, fuelling a determination to bring the body home to New Hampshire.
What follows is a road movie of sorts, reuniting three very different men still struggling to come to terms with their shared experience of war.
And while Last Flag Flying has moments of lightness and levity, it’s ultimately a sombre and moving tale about the trials that life throws in our path and how we move on with a little help from our friends.
It’s also yet another chilling reminder that the first casualty of war is truth.
Bryan Cranston is a marvellous standout as Sal, the owner of a largerthan-life personality, a salty tongue and a seedy bar in Norfolk, Va.
Cranston’s performance could have easily overwhelmed the film except for director Richard Linklater’s canny decision to match him with two other very fine actors, Laurence Fishburne as the now-reformed Rev. Richard Mueller and Steve Carell, in a beautifully restrained performance as Doc.
J. Quinton Johnson also delivers a fine performance as a young Marine comrade of Doc’s son, tasked with accompanying his body.
Linklater ( Boyhood) is a seasoned veteran who manages to find the right balance between comedy and drama. The film is based on the novel by Darryl Ponicsan, a sequel to his 1970 novel, The Last Detail, which was made by director Hal Ashby into a film three years later, starring Jack Nicholson.
For reasons unknown, Linklater and Ponicsan — who co-wrote the screenplay — have decided to rename the characters from the first novel. Linklater has described the film as an “echo” of the earlier work.
But this detail should not detract in any way from Last Flag Flying as a mature and memorable film that stands on its own.