While sporadically interesting and the leads put in strong performances, the entire proceedings are just too muted, too quiet and ultimately feels unsatisfying as a cinematic experience.
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Richard Linklater - most famous for his "Before" trilogy (Before Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight), is back with his latest, this time kind of a hybrid war and road trip movie, featuring a trio of actors that would not be strangers to most audiences, albeit in low-key roles that would not normally be associated with them. While sporadically interesting and the leads put in strong performances, the entire proceedings are just too muted, too quiet and ultimately feels unsatisfying as a cinematic experience.
While the central storyline is clear enough, Linklater takes a very long time to get the proceedings on the road (both literally and figuratively), and even when it does, the film never picks up enough momentum, seemingly ambling nowhere for much of its running time. While there are moments where the film shines - a particularly impressive scene is the one where Steve Carell's character claims his son's body in a military aircraft hangar - so much of the film feels inconsequential, and Last Flag Flying's 125-minute running time feels far too protracted for its own good.
Audiences familiar with Steve Carell's full body of work would know that he is able to put forth not just a comedic front, but his turn in Last Flag Flying is simply too introspective to carry much impact. Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne fare better, and together as a trio, there is a laid-back chemistry that kind of works. Yet there's this nagging sense that there's a lot of unfulfilled potential in the film, and for most audience members, interest would probably flag (ahem) long before the end credits begin to roll.
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