A morose man (Steve Carell) looks up two of his old Vietnam buddies (Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne) and asks their assistance to help in making funeral preparations for his only son who has just been killed in the early days of the 2nd Iraq War. Richard Linklater's Last Flag Flying, who worked with writer Darryl Ponicsan, is a thoughtful, meditative, and even novelistic discourse that is made in the same vein, and almost functions as a quasi sequel of sorts, as Ponicsan's The Last Detail. Though their performances are not without their qualities, Carrel and Fishburne devolve into their usual personas but Cranston's turn, though heavily influence by Nicholson's, actually grows and takes on life as the film progresses.
*** 1/2 out of ****
