Last Flag Flying
“Last Flag Flying never condescends to its characters because of their disabilities.”
Title: Last Flag Flying (2017)
Director: Richard Linklater 👨🏼🇺🇸
Writers: Richard Linklater 👨🏼🇺🇸 and Darryl Ponicsan 👨🏼🇺🇸
Reviewed by Dara Khan 👨🏽🇺🇸🌈♿
Note: This review was commissioned by Lionsgate. The content and methodology remain 100% independent and in line with Mediaversity's non-commissioned reviews.
Technical: 4/5
Richard Linklater, director of Dazed and Confused (1993), Boyhood (2014), and the Before trilogy, is the king of the melancholy hangout film. He’s an unorthodox choice to adapt a novel about military veterans reckoning with their pasts, but Linklater scores a win by combining his signature aesthetic with Darryl Ponicsan’s novel of the same name. Set in 2003, the film follows Doc (Steve Carrell), a Vietnam veteran who goes on a journey to collect the body of his son, a marine killed in action during the war in Iraq. He enlists two old squadmates, foul-mouthed bar owner Sal (Bryan Cranston) and born-again reverend Rich (Laurence Fishburne), to accompany him.
Along the way the men have frank discussions about their time in the military; their present lives; and about past regrets. Linklater’s languid style gives these three great actors room to strut their stuff, and his cool-eyed approach contrasts well with the surprisingly acidic anti-war sentiment of the story. The ending backtracks disappointingly on these criticisms, but the journey is still worth taking.
Gender: 2/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE
Narrowly focused on the story of three aging Vietnam vets, Last Flag Flying has very few female characters. Reverend Rich’s wife Ruth (Deanna Reed-Foster) plays a minor role in convincing her husband to join Doc on his journey, but women otherwise do not figure much into the plot of the film. Our lead trio relate to women in role-bound ways that reflect their generation: either as wives or conquests.
This character piece has a great amount of texture, so it’s easy to absorb these oversights into those of the three protagonists rather than ascribing them to the film itself. That doesn’t mean the oversights don’t exist—and our score reflects that. But this is a film that doesn’t try to sugarcoat the lecherous way Sal talks about former escapades, nor does it venerate Rich for placing his wife on a pedestal of purity.
Race: 4/5
Laurence Fishburne dazzles as Rich Mueller, a veteran known for his wild hedonism during the Vietnam war. When we encounter him in 2003, he is a born-again Christian and recovering alcoholic who has become a pastor and a respected pillar of his community. But as the film goes on and Rich spends more time with his old war buddies, especially the brusque Sal, glimpses of his old self begin to peek out. Fishburne knocks it out of the park in giving us all the subtle dimensions of Rich’s personality. Last Flag Flying offers a quiet, humanistic portrait of a Black military veteran that would sit comfortably alongside Delroy Lindo’s powerhouse performance in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2020).
As the trio make contact with the Marine Corps, they also encounter Charlie (J. Quinton Johnson), a Black enlisted serviceman who was the squadmate and best friend of Doc’s son. Caught between military decorum and disillusionment, Charlie serves as a reflection of what our protagonists may have been like in their younger days. Despite the assumptions of Sal and his commanding officer, Charlie does not make an immediate connection with Rich simply because they are both Black. Rather it’s Doc, the father of Charlie’s deceased friend, with whom he shares the most poignant moments, including delivering Doc a letter that his son wrote before he died. All in all, Charlie provides a nuanced portrait of a young Black soldier that feels refreshing and free of stereotype.
Bonus for Disability: +1.00
As veterans, Doc, Sal, and Rich have experienced their share of injury and trauma. Rich is visibly disabled, using a cane to walk due to a wartime bullet wound in his leg. Sal has a metal plate in his head from his own injury, and alludes to suffering from brain damage. All three men talk frankly about abusing opioids during the war, and Rich describes himself as a recovering alcoholic. Last Flag Flying approaches these issues with curiosity and heart, and never condescends to its characters because of their disabilities and adverse experiences.
Bonus for Age: +0.50
Our protagonists are military veterans stepping into the sunset period of their lives, and their stories provide a rich palette of experiences related to their age. They sometimes struggle to adapt to a changing world, but this is depicted with humor and humanity rather than stereotype.
Mediaversity Grade: B 3.83/5
Last Flag Flying offers us a portrait of military veterans confronting the past, with textured characterizations of Black and/or disabled characters. It loses points, however, for the absence of meaningful female characters. But this lack of onscreen diversity also represents the relationship to women these characters have in their daily lives, making the gender imbalance feel naturalized, at least, rather than ringing as false. It’s rare to see an unassuming drama about war with such rounded, lived-in characters, and that propels Last Flag Flying to a solid B grade.