Richard Linklater's latest film about a father(Steve Carell) taking a trip to bring his dead son's body home after dying oversees and once again Linklater knows how to capture the human condition from the small interactions between Carell and his friends played by Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne and they share some great chemistry in scenes that have a lot of heart and emotion that propels the film that is simultaneously a road trip film, a war film and almost a stage play at times as the personal scenes feel low key and inviting.
The film often fails to deliver on the comedy aspect which comes off forced more often than not and does not really fit in with the overall narrative of the film.
Last Flag Flying fails however to be as engaging as some of Linklater's more notable films as Carell, Fishburne and Cranston just don't really feel like old pals but feel like they're acting out a well written play instead of feeling as genuine as it should and Fishburne and more noticeably Cranston just feel more than caricatures than real people as their dialogue often feels more forced than it should.
Over while Last Flag Flying has some strong actors telling an interesting story, it often falls on familiar story devices and some forced dialogue that it is not quite as engaging as Boyhood or the Before trilogy that feel much stronger outings in the Linklater filmography.
5.5/10