So(m)ber film is at times too obvious and too preachy

Rating: 6/10 (13 December 2017)

"Last Flag Flying" (2017 release; 125 min.) brings the story of 3 Vietnam War vets. As the movie opens, we are informed it is "December 2003", and we see a guy arriving at Sal's Bar & Grille. The bartender (and owner) Sal doesn't recognize the guy at first, but then realizes it's Doc, who served with Sal in Vietnam. After a drunken night, Doc suggests they go somewhere and Sal, not knowing what to expect, nevertheless agrees. Turns out Doc takes him to see Mueller, another Vietnam vet who now is the pastor at a Baptist church. After dinner at Mueller's house, Doc drops the bomb: his only son was killed 2 days ago in Bagdad and Doc wants Sal and Mueller to accompany him to retrieve his son's body and bury him. At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director Richard Linklater, whose 2014 masterpiece "Boyhood" was my No. 1 movie of that year. Linklater is one of my favorite film makers, period. Here, he goes a very different direction from what he typically does, and brings an all-out sober, if not somber, account of how one guy deals with the death in combat of his son, and calling on two 'Nam buddies he hasn't seen in decades for moral and other support. And how exactly did his son die in Bagdad anyway? The war in Iraq is possibly the very worst presidential decision taken in the last 50 years, so I don't need to be told, again and again in this movie, what a lousy idea that was, so please stop the unabashed preachy tone of the movie already. Not to mention that certain moments simply feel contrived (the Dover AFB scene where Doc and Sal roll away the coffin; the TV footage of Saddam Hussein's capture, happening the very same day!, etc.). This film is the exact opposite of a feel-good movie. On the plus side, the performance of Bryan Cranston as the freewheeling Sal is spot on. I can't say the same thing for Steve Carell who as the grieving dad seems to try too hard to channel the grief and bewilderment. Bottom line: "Last Flag Flying" is not a bad film, certainly not, but the movie's message is at times too obvious and too preachy. I can't help but think back to that other recent movie "Thank You For Your Service", which didn't shout in your face how horrible the war in Iraq has been (or its aftermath for returning veterans), but instead lets the story do the talking without resorting to the obvious and the preaching. We get it.
"Last Flag Flying" opened recently at my art-house theater here in Cincinnati (and it being an Amazon Studios film, it simultaneously started streaming on Amazon). The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (about 10 people in all). I can't say that when I walked out from the theater I felt good about having seen this film. I certainly encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.