Forgoing burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Doc and his old buddies take the casket on a bittersweet trip up the coast to New Hampshire. Along the way, the three men find themselves reminiscing and coming to terms with the shared memories of a war that continues to shape their lives.
"Last Flag Flying" is about the lies we tell ourselves, the lies the government tells us, the fights we fight and how they all inform the memories we mold.
If a viewer isn't familiar with The Last Detail then Last Flag Flying gets by as an okay grumpy old soldiers tragicomedy. The rest of us know better because we've seen far better.
While Last Flag Flying has moments of lightness and levity, it's ultimately a sombre and moving tale about the trials that life throws in our path and how we move on with a little help from our friends.
Last Flag Flying lacks the casual, lived-in realism you usually find in a Linklater film. You don't buy the men as long-separated pals, and so you don't really buy the premise the connection that caused Doc to seek out these men is not visible on screen.
While conventional in execution and its underlying anti-war/pro-soldier sentiments, "Flag" nevertheless is buttressed by a warm humanity and stirring performances from Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne and, especially, Steve Carell.
Indeed, the ending, somewhat enigmatic and oddly abrupt, brings to bear a peculiar plot element that frankly could have more or less resolved practically everything else in the film had it only come a few days earlier, as it clearly should have.
The film ... seems uncertain of its own unusualness as Linklater eventually opts for a piece that is little more than a road movie and its rhythm stalls.
