Few directors grasp the silent storms inside average Americans better than Richard Linklater, the visionary behind “Everybody Wants Some!!” and “Boyhood.” His latest film, “🅺Last Flag Flying,” is a sort-of sequel to Darryl Ponicsan’s novel and film “The Last Detail,” about three pals who meet while serving in the Navy and Marines du🍌ring the Vietnam War.
Although the characters here are the same, the circumstances are 𒉰quite different — most notably, the boostedꦗ seriousness of a crime they committed for which one pal served brig time.
Set in 2003, ꦰ“Flag” reunites buddies Doc (Steve Carell), Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) and Sal (Bryan Cra🦄nston) as they drive from Virginia to New Hampshire to bury Doc’s son, a Marine who died serving in Iraq. Yes, it’s a gloomy premise for a road-trip movie, but life-affirming, too. Like an Irish wake, the tone is somber, morbid and funny.
Especially thought-p♐rovoking here is the trio’s love-hate relationship with the armed forces. On one hand, being in uniform gave them the best years of their lives. On the other, 🎃they’re all ashamed of what they did and unsatisfied with where they are today.
All three actors are terrific.
No one can instantly command an audience’s sympathy like S♔teve Carell can. He’s America’s poet laureate. Once an “Office” clown, now he’s 🅺a fixture of dramas, and his style of acting — reserved and lonely — resonates powerfully with viewers. You might find yourself waiting for Carell’s character to sob or break down — that’s what people do in movies, right? — but Carell never gives in to that easy impulse.
Breaking the tension is Fishburne, whose Mueller has become a preacher, as he balances his new holy life with his cussin’ and boozin’ past. And there’𝔍s also Cranston’s Sal, a dive-bar owner, who is nearly too outsize for this intimate movie. But his role as a jovial alcoholic, all too familiar, really drives home the lifelong reverberations of war.
The song that rolls at the end credits is Bob Dylan’s “Not Dark Yet.” It’🃏s a perfect coda for Linklater’s movie — it mimics the steady pulse of “Flag,”🔜 its warmth and Doc’s cautious optimism in the face of personal tragedy.
“It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.”