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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Digital Cinema Media's Group M Agency Executive, Nick Price, reviews Last Flag Flying, which was the Headline Gala at the 61st BFI London Film Festival.
For the Headline Gala of the BFI London Film Festival, we were treated to the premiere of drama/comedy, Last Flag Flying. Held at Odeon Leicester Square, there was also a Q&A with the writer and director, Richard Linklater (Boyhood, School of Rock) and Academy Award Nominee Bryan Cranston (Trumbo, Breaking Bad), who without a doubt steals the film.
Starring three powerhouses in film from the past few decades; Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell and Laurence Fishburne, Last Flag Flying tells the story of three war veterans who served together in Vietnam over 30 years ago. They reunite in 2003 following the death of former Navy Corpsman, Larry "Doc" Shepherd's (Steve Carrell) son, who was killed in Iraq. Larry, now without wife or son, seeks the help of former Marines, Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) to bury his son at home opposed to Arlington Cemetery where the government insists 'heroes killed in action' should be buried.
This road trip movie brings the death of a young soldier in hostile territory to life in the most comforting of ways. Although the plot of this film may not sound like the happiest of weekend or mid-week watches, the script which these world-class actors were given freedom to improvise with makes it a hilarious, yet heart-warming easy watch. It has a very similar feeling to the road trip movie Due Date (2010) with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, although, it is personally, more enjoyable to watch, with Bryan Cranston in particular, having the audience in stitches throughout.
In the Q&A which followed the film, we found out that this low budget film was shot in the space of 30 days, the majority of that being in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The script for this film had been written back in 2005, but the director and studios felt that it was far too close to home at the time, when the war in Iraq was still very fresh and could have been considered disrespectful. Richard Linklater couldn't have been happier that it can now be treated as a period piece, and has given him the opportunity to work with the likes of Cranston, Carrell and Fishburne who he considers to still be in their prime.
Last Flag Flying does not have an official UK release date as of yet but will be released by Amazon Studios.
Watch the trailer below: