Flags Of Our Fathers

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis
Rated R: for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language

Director Clint Eastwood’s World War II film Flags Of Our Fathers is a satisfactory accomplishment. Although, one hopes for a little bit more from a film dealing with such an historic moment in our nation’s history—the flag-raising picture shot by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal at the Battle of Iwo Jima—it does make for another solid, emotional film experience for war movie buffs from the aged-like-a-fine-wine Eastwood.

The story is about the battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and how the famous photo affected the lives of the six men who were deemed heroes because of the flag raising. What works best in the film is the attention to detail of that event, the objective view of the story, and the historical accuracy presented in the story and its characters. The film’s main problems come from the odd casting choices, the narrative structure and its overall visual aesthetic. These problems are what keep Flags from reaching greatness, and will hurt the film’s chances of snagging more awards for Eastwood.

The cast in any film can make or break the end result. Here, we have pretty boy character actor Ryan Phillipe (who I respect for not choosing to become a Hollywood star and instead has focused his career on becoming an actor), Jesse Bradford (from the awful Swimfan, but I prefer to remember him from his small roles in Hackers and Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet), Adam Beach (who played a somewhat similar role in John Woo’s awful WWII film Windtalkers, but I prefer to remember him as Kicking Wing in the so dumb it’s funny David Spade vehicle Joe Dirt), and the untalented Paul Walker (who thankfully has a very small role in the film). I understand that these actors were chosen because of their youth and Eastwood probably didn’t want any huge stars overtaking the story, but the cast is a major failure simply because they can’t carry most of the film’s heavy emotional weight. Whereas Eastwood’s previous two efforts, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, had numerous remarkable acting turns from strong casts Flags just comes up incredibly short.

Eastwood and producer Steven Spielberg have made a companion piece to Saving Private Ryan. Too bad the look of Flags Of Our Fathers uses the exact same visual techniques that cinematographer Janusz Kaminski pioneered with Ryan. The beautiful look of filtered visuals, grainy and raw photography perfectly capture the time and place of the war. Maybe Spielberg wanted Eastwood’s film to be a brother to his WWII film and his HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. In that sense, the visuals work in Flags. I think it is time for filmmakers to start using new visual techniques for war films, though.

Flags Of Our Fathers just doesn’t match the intensity of Eastwood’s previous efforts. I do await the other half of this story when his Letters From Iwo Jima is released in January. That film will show the Japanese view of the story, and maybe after it comes out Flags will seem better. I give credit for Eastwood in undertaking such a daunting, ambitious dual film project (especially at his age). While this film has award season in its sights, I think the slate of other films to come out this year is just too strong and will ultimately prevent Flags from winning any major awards.

HDFEST grading scale

-Flags Of Our Fathers-

Story B-

Acting B-

Visuals B

Originality C+

Enjoyability C+

Overall Grade B-