Last Flag Flying

Written and directed by Richard Linklater, Last Flag Flying follows Steve Carell’s Larry Shepherd as he tracks down a pair of old army buddies (Bryan Cranston’s Sal and Laurence Fishburne’s Richard) and embarks on a road trip to bury a close family member. It’s ultimately hard to deny that Last Flag Flying feels like a rough cut of what could (and should) have been an engrossing, streamlined drama, as Linklater delivers a bloated and overly lackadaisical endeavor that’s quite stirring in parts and yet, as a whole, never quite comes together to become the searing work one might’ve anticipated. It’s a shame, certainly, given that the movie boasts a preponderance of better-than-average elements, with, especially, the performances from the three stars going a long way towards keeping things interesting through the narrative’s shaggier stretches. And as typically solid as Cranston and Fishburne are here, Carell delivers a subtle and often heartbreaking turn that remains a highlight throughout and indeed stands as perhaps the actor’s finest (and most nuanced) big-screen work. The almost episodic midsection, which is rife with sequences that could’ve been left on the cutting-room floor (eg the guys buy cell phones), paves the way for an erratic vibe that ultimately proves somewhat disastrous, as the big emotional beats of the movie’s climax are simply unable to pack the punch that Linklater has intended – with the end result a decent effort that works as an actor’s showcase more than it does a fully-realized motion picture.

**1/2 out of ****