I’ve made it very clear that Richard Linklater is my favorite working director. His career has given us classics varying from Dazed and Confused to School of Rock. Hell, his last three films have not only finished on my Top Ten lists, but have each appeared in my Top Five (Before Midnight finishing at #5, Boyhood finishing at #2, and Everybody Wants Some!! finishing at #1). So whenever he announces a new film, it instantly becomes one of the year’s most anticipated. This is clearly the case with Linklater’s quickly-shot, quickly-released newest project, Last Flag Flying, which is making a dangerous late push for Oscar season.
In a sequel to the 1970 novel/1973 film The Last Detail, Billy Buddusky (Bryan Cranston), Larry Meadows (Steve Carell), and Richard Mulhall (Laurence Fishburne) reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam when Meadows’ son is killed in Iraq. Unwilling to bury his son in Arlington, the three men fight with the government to reclaim the body and transport it back to his hometown.
Linklater is one of the greatest writer-directors in the business, and his teaming up with author Darryl Poniscsan makes this one of the most exciting projects out there. After watching the trailer, set to Neil Young’s “Old Man,” I’m convinced that this could pose a major threat as an Oscar contender, especially for Best Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor for Carell, who looks great and will be likely competing in a currently weak field. We’ll find out at the New York Film Festival, where it will hold its premiere, on September 28th, before releasing wide on November 3rd. You can watch the trailer below.
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