Pittsburgh filmed ‘Last Flag Flying’ to open N.Y. festival

The filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Last Flag Flying” by Richard Linklater has been chosen as the opening night film of this year’s 55th annual New York Film Festival.

“Last Flag Flying” will have its world premiere Sept. 28, ahead of a planned Nov. 17 wide release. Past festival openers have included “Gone Girl,” “Life of Pi,” “The Social Network” and, last year, Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” the Oscar-nominated documentary about race and thecriminal justice system.

“It’s always special to be at the New York Film Festival, but to be premiering our movie on opening night, when you look at the halfcentury of films that have occupied that slot, is a wonderful honor,” Mr. Linklater said in a statement.

The filmmaker of “Boyhood” and “Dazed and Confused” has described “Last Flag Flying” as “a sequel of sorts” to Hal Ashby’s 1973 movie “The Last Detail” — both based on books by Darryl Ponicsan — with Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid.

The new film is set in December 2003 in the early days of the Iraq war. Doc, a Vietnam veteran and grieving father played by Steve Carell, tracks down his buddies — volatile Sal (Bryan Cranston) and Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) — for what is described as “a gutwrenching request they cannot deny. What follows is a road trip among military veterans who have to confront their past as their journey from Pennsylvania to Portsmouth, N.H., evolves into a heartbreaking and humorous mission.”

The festival’s synopsis of the film calls “Last Flag Flying” “a lyrical road movie, as funny as it is heartbreaking. ... To put it simply, ‘Last Flag Flying’ is a great movie from one of America’s finest filmmakers.”

“Last Flag Flying” began filming in Pittsburgh in November of last year. The New York Film Festival, which is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, runs through Oct.15.