“Flags of Our Fathers” (Warner Brothers)
Important History, Disappointing Entertainment
Clint Eastwood is one of the most respected directors/filmmakers in Hollywood. He has shown his skills with such award winning movies as “Million Dollar Baby,” “Unforgiven” and “Mystic River.” Now he turns his skills to bringing us the story behind the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. He captures the history but never quite reaches the entertainment level audiences need.
The movie’s story is told by James Bradley (Tom McCarthy), the son of John Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) who was one of the men celebrated in the photo of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima. He and two others, Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), are the only survivors of the group in the photo. They are taken from the battlefield and pressed into duty to tour the States and raise money by selling savings bonds.
Hayes is a reluctant member of the group. A Native American, he does not feel heroic in the least and thinks it is a sham to stand in front of the American public and be called one. Gagnon on the other hand eats up the publicity and thinks he can capitalize on it when the war is over. Bradley appears to be a reasonable man who wants to do his part and then go home.
The movie switches between the present when John Bradley is an old man; the past when the battle for Iwo Jima was taking place; and the time of the campaign to sell Savings Bonds. In each period the three men of the photo are center stage but we never get any depth of characterization about them. This hurts the movie as this lack of depth makes the movie hard to enjoy. Audiences don’t feel personally invested in these men and that is difficult to overcome.
Bradford, Phillippe and Beach are good actors but only Beach creates a real human being. Bradford and Phillippe only create cardboard characters. This is not their fault as much as that of the scriptwriter and Eastwood. They are never guided or given the lines to explain who and what their characters are.
There are dozens of other players in the movie too who never spring to life. Jamie Bell, Barry Pepper and Paul Walker are just a few of the actors who play other members of the armed forces who fight on Iwo Jima. They are just shadows that play out in the background. When you hear their names you can’t place the face or the character and that is fatal to the enjoyment and understanding of the story.
The film is rated R for profanity and violence.
There was high expectation for this movie with Eastwood’s name being attached to it, and it is an honest effort of his behalf. Still it fails as entertainment that can be appreciated due to (1) its lack of star power (2) its lack of depth in the characters portrayed, and (3) its failure to touch the hearts of the audience watching it.
“Flags of Our Fathers” cries out for those hair-raising scenes that make an audience part of the story. There is not enough heart, hope or patriotism in this movie to make it stand out above the pack. It is a solid look at the history of the battle for Iwo Jima and its impact on three men’s lives, but it never reaches the emotional level necessary to make it a classic.
People may scoff at those old John Wane epics but they took you into the horror and the heart of war. “Flags of Our Fathers” does not.
I scored “Flags of Our Fathers” a waving 6 out of 10.
