Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers marks filmmaker Clint Eastwood’s first war-themed effort since 1986’s Heartbreak Ridge, and although the movie suffers from an overlong running time and an unmistakable air of familiarity, the various performances and Eastwood’s expectedly intriguing directorial choices make it easy enough to overlook such deficiencies. The film follows three soldiers (Ryan Phillippe’s John Bradley, Jesse Bradford’s Rene Gagnon, and Adam Beach’s Ira Hayes) as they raise the flag at Iwo Jima and subsequently find themselves at the center of a worldwide media circus (Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, and Robert Patrick have small roles as fellow fighters). In employing a non-linear structure – the action oscillates between the battlefield and the soldiers’ trials and tribulations back home – screenwriters William Broyles Jr and Paul Haggis have infused the proceedings with a thoroughly uneven vibe that ultimately prevents the film from stepping out of the shadows of thematically-similar forebears such as Patton and Saving Private Ryan. That being said, there’s certainly no denying the impact of the central characters’ tumultuous efforts to adjust to their newfound fame – with such sequences anchored by the uniformly superb performances (Beach is particularly strong here). In the end, Flags of Our Fathers remains an entertaining yet strangely forgettable piece of work – ensuring that the film will likely never be added to the pantheon of great war flicks.

*** out of ****

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