Flag Day

Just not a good dude Greetings again from the darkness. Life is full of choices, however sometimes destiny takes charge and there's little we can do about it. One's parents are the most obvious and crucial example. We don't choose our parents and yet their impact on our lives is unavoidable. Jennifer Vogel's book, "Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father's Counterfeit Life", has been adapted for the screen by the FORD V FERRARI screenwriting brothers, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth. The film is directed by two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn, who also co-stars.

Penn decides to take an interesting story about a counter fitter and make a film as though it was directed by Terrence Malik. It's close to being a disaster. It's so slow and boring. All the characters are boring and uninteresting.

This movie just had a ho hum on it from the get-go. Good acting but just a boring story, and it never really explains itself... stuff just happens. I mean you don't just get to point B without a soluble A in there to make it all happen... and did they have boat-cars in the 70's? Maybe I guess... just a weird kinda movie bout a family and their demons and struggles... that's it. Not the worst,, not the best... a 5 star movie.

Great story, maybe I'm little biased being a father, but the development of the relationship between two main characters, the story left an inspiring taste after watching the movie. Sean Penn is great in this movie, same Dylan. I was expecting little different editing of the film, as it does appear little as a "cheap" feature, for instance police chasing, or any "criminal" activity of John Vogel could be presented to the audience with bolder shapes, but overall, once getting into the point of the story, it's clear that not the package but its content has its most value. Hope the movie will be well treated during Awards season, despite some mixed critics' film reviews.

If you need a movie to prove that Hollywood is filled with narcissistic nepotism than look no further! The over-acting cannot be mistaken...the Penn family has a genetic pre-disposition for it apparently, and they don't mind letting you know it ! Not only is this movie bad...but it is a testimony to why Hollywood is dying.

This is so bad I created this account to rate it. I have no idea what is happening here and I am half way in. There doesn't seem to be a plot other than Penn over acting. Would love my $5.99 back.

Flag Day starts with an image of a car chase juxtaposed with childhood images and a woman hearing from the police that her father had been printing fake money at scale. A beautiful start that sets the tone for the rest of the film. Handheld, grainy shots, combined with rough edits and deep characters sunk in their failures and depression. Sean Penn is probably the most direct descendant of John Cassavetes in filmmaking today (and we know that they were friends, and that Cassavetes even wrote She's Delovely - later renamed She's So Lovely and directed by Nick Cassavetes- for him). The style of Flag Day is certainly reminiscent of Cassavetes (if you squint a little). But what would have been a perfectly great film in the 80's, maybe even the 90's, feels dated today, constantly pulled down by a sense of nostalgia that is not necessarily shared by the audience. This keeps the story and characters from ever surfacing and the audience is left wondering more than once when the film will end. While not always clear, the film is ultimately the story of a man created by a culture and system that won't let him flourish and will seek to destroy him. From that point of view, the film does a much better job than other films such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing or Hillbilly Elegy at painting the story of the people that felt betrayed by America as it evolved. Also told from the point of view of someone (his daughter, beautifully played by Sean Penn's daughter Dylan Penn) who succeeded in the system, like Hillbilly Elegy was, to show both a balanced picture and the randomness of the system, it has the advantage of taking place in the 90's, taking away the unbearably pedagogical angle from other films around "here's why people voted for Trump". Flag Day is based on a true story, and one can only wish Sean Penn had had the courage to free himself from that label, to let the film venture into more free and more poetic paths. It is when it allows itself that freedom, such as the scenes that take place on Flag Day, that it's at its best.

Great storytelling, great camera use and cinematography, great acting and song selection... Sean Penn never upsets his fans for the trust in his name. It is a nice detail to see Eddie Vedder, who is also his best friend in the music, with his daughter in this movie where he is in front of the camera with his daughter. Played by her daughter, Jennifer Vogal is also the screenwriter of the movie. The movie didn't get the attention it expected at the 75th Cannes film festival... It's a good situation for this movie, considering the state Cannes is in. If cinema is an art, Sean Penn is among the greatest artists of our time.

I don't understand all the bad reviews? If you know Sean Penns work then you will love this. He is at the top of his acting. And his daughter was amazing in this movie. I just wish they would have showed more about him counterfeiting money but if you watch the movie it's all about his daughter seen through her eyes. Great movie.

Long, incoherent, and unfocused. Uninteresting dialog replaced action. A little effort could have made the movie much better, such as something to make the characters interesting (within the movie).