Flags of Our Fathers

2006 war movie

Rating: 14/20 (Dylan: 12/20)

Plot: So what we're left with is our memories. Swirling stars above a city of stone, silver buses and snapping fingers. I fondled a girl and rapped for nickels outside a smorgasbord while you watched a dying man desperately attempting to win you a stuffed seal from a claw machine. Just how baggy did I wear my pants back then? And did I ever tell you that I never actually wrote that rap song, the one about Dave Winfield, the one you told me was clever but were likely far too smart to actually think that? It doesn't matter. The stuffed seal didn't care, so why should anybody else? All those dead people, that black wall, and the teasing of a rainbow umbrella lifted toward a glum sky. What was I doing, and why was I doing it? That's what I'd like to know.

Dylan didn't like the structure of this one (he did say that he liked the movie), but the bouncing between the war scenes on Iwo Jima and the travels of the three surviving flag raisers worked well. The movie is too long and at times seems redundant, and the last twenty minutes or so is bogged down by some narration which almost makes it seem like an entirely different movie. I like the messages at the heart of this movie, and Eastwood does a good enough job of portraying the harshness of war as well as the harshness of post-war realistically. But I was bored far too often with the safe direction and the Hollywoodiness of it all. We'll watch Letters from Iwo Jima soon enough, I suppose.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Weirder than usual summary. "Letters From Iwo Jima" is a much, much better movie and you should see it as soon as possible since the battle scenes are tied to this one. The war scenes in this are mostly very good (although the obviously CGI ships are a little annoying), but the rest of the film is overwhelmed buy the incredibly whiny Native American. I know he was in large part sort of the point of the movie, but I just wanted him to shut up. How's that for cold? A 13.

Anonymous said...

Did I really spell by, BUY? Better than bye, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

speaking of spelling...i know i cant read none too good...but i would watch putting rapped and girl that close together...just a thought...although it did make the review a bit more intriguing...buy the way...i dont know why the hell i am using as many frigging "..." as I am...

Shane said...

RD, it's because "..." is the single most versatile punctuation mark that there is. People who use them, especially excessively, are 13% better than people who don't. I'm not sure what that statistic even means, but it means something...I'm not sure what to think about the rapped/girl issue.

Cory, Bob Dylan has a song about the whiny Native American. Kelly might know it. And hey, we almost agreed completely. I was leaning toward giving the movie a 13 myself but gave it 1/2 a bonus point just because I was in a bad mood and figured it probably deserved it.

RD and Cory, you both used the wrong "by"...maybe RD was poking fun? Either way, I expect better. Proofread these bad boys!

I probably shouldn't criticize anything at all about notes. This blogger probably shouldn't be alienating his 3-5 readers.

Speaking of that, watch for my review of 'Jaws' soon, Cory. I'm sure we'll have something to talk about after that...

Anonymous said...

OK, I'll brace myself.