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Last Flag Flying Movie Review

Last Flag Flying is a 2020 drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburn. It’s a wonderful film.

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“I’m not going to bury a marine.

I’m just going to bury my son“

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It is about three Vietnam War veterans who reunite after one of their sons is killed in the Iraq War. This is a different kind of movie from Linklater. He has never done a storyline involving war, but this is also his rare film that is midrange and more regular than his more talkative, philosophical outings. And I found that change in pace actually quite refreshing as the movie is so warm and appealing to everyone.

The movie definitely makes a comment on American politics and their war-leading in general that has resulted in many destroyed lives of those soldiers and their families. Yes, the Vietnam War is at the core of the film, but the Iraq War is touched upon as well. My issue with the movie is that it is way too low-key and unambitious when it comes to its overall narrative and scope, but for the most part its intimate feel worked out well.

The soul of the movie is the friendship between these three men. It’s one of the better recent male friendship movies as the three share such fantastic dynamics, both dramatic and comedic. The movie is actually terrific in its tone as it is both poignant and funny depending on the scene. It has it all, but of course sometimes the episodic, overly sitcom-like nature to some scenes hurt it a bit.

Bryan Cranston steals the show as the funniest of the three men. His accent is great and some of his lines are truly excellent. I also respected Steve Carell for taking a more dramatic, deeper role than what he would usually perform as. And he’s quite strong and believable in it. As for Laurence Fishburn, it was very humorous seeing a preacher react to the crass remarks from the Cranston character and their dynamic is probably the funniest.

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Last Flag Flying is very weakly structured and paced as it could get too episodic and repetitious. Again, the ambition is lacking this time around. However, the dialogue is so good, the themes are fine and its heart is always in the right place that I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would.