November 13, 2006
Flags Of Our Fathers
Another war movie about the greatest generation.
Starring: Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
Rating: 7/10
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Runtime: 132 minutes
Starring: Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
Rating: 7/10
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Runtime: 132 minutes
It seems like war movies have come into vogue in the years following Saving Private Ryan. It seems like 2 or 3 war movies find their way into multiplexes every year, many attempting to say something profound about the nature of war while telling us nothing that we didn’t already know. Saving Private Ryan brought a realism and authenticity to the war genre that many previous films lacked but, in doing so, it dulled the impact of all war films to follow. Clint Eastwood is much too smart a filmmaker to attempt the “War Is Hell” approach and in Flags Of Our Fathers, he tries to show, instead, how a war can be sold and how something as simple as a picture can change a nation’s perception.
The film uses a disjointed structure to tell the story surrounding the iconic image of six soldiers hoisting the American Flag atop the isle of Iwo Jima. The narrative follows three of the surviving soldiers as they are whisked across the United States to generate positive awareness for the war and subsequently sell war bonds. Interspersed amongst these scenes in the States are scenes of the soldiers on Iwo Jima. Oddly enough, the scenes on the island are some of the weakest as Eastwood is unable to offer anything new to the war genre and, instead, it is the scenes of the three soldiers on the war bonds trail that resonate the most.
All actors involved manage serviceable, if somewhat standard, performances with the exception of Adam Beach whose portrayal of the legendary “drunken” Ira Hayes is one that should be recognized this award season. Had the movie been built around this tragic figure, it might have easily have been a classic of the genre instead of just an above average addition.
The film uses a disjointed structure to tell the story surrounding the iconic image of six soldiers hoisting the American Flag atop the isle of Iwo Jima. The narrative follows three of the surviving soldiers as they are whisked across the United States to generate positive awareness for the war and subsequently sell war bonds. Interspersed amongst these scenes in the States are scenes of the soldiers on Iwo Jima. Oddly enough, the scenes on the island are some of the weakest as Eastwood is unable to offer anything new to the war genre and, instead, it is the scenes of the three soldiers on the war bonds trail that resonate the most.
All actors involved manage serviceable, if somewhat standard, performances with the exception of Adam Beach whose portrayal of the legendary “drunken” Ira Hayes is one that should be recognized this award season. Had the movie been built around this tragic figure, it might have easily have been a classic of the genre instead of just an above average addition.