The story should have been linear. I found myself saying "wtf? are we back in the future or the preset or the back now?" a million times. And none of the acting was anywhere good. If I see Jesse's smirk one fore time. ugh. ryan phillipe used to be sooo good. What happened?

anyway, it's crazy some actually liked it. D

I couldn't get into this movie at all. I did enjoy the action, but once we were away from it, I felt myself thinking a lot. And not about the movie. Flags of Our Fathers is not a movie that can rely heavily on drama and little on the action. It's an unfortunate truth. The final message is pounded into our skulls for 2 hours and 3 minutes, and it's never subtle. By the time the end credits started rolling, I swear I could hear Clint mutter "Damn, what a movie" in that raspy tone.

Before today, I may have wondered why the Oscars (and every award show) turned their backs to Flags. Now, there's no question as to why. I can only hope Letters from Iwo Jima was somewhat enjoyable, or Clint wasted a lot of time.

Grade: C

Pretty uninvolving and convoluted war flick with great production values and an interesting story to tell. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell it very well. The anti-propaganda angle worked well at times, but it's not really that effective. The entire film jumped all over the place, so it was near-impossible to follow, and lacked focus for much of the time. It's not sure if it wants to focus on the three men who were exploited, or on the entire group of soldiers fighting on Iwo Jima. It's too bad, because the war scenes are exceptionally well-shot and damn near approach Saving Private Ryan level. But, since none of the characters are very well-developed, the battle scenes aren't nearly as thrilling as they should be. All in all, a well-made film that never lives up to its potential.

Is it alright to watch this movie after Flags?

Because the weird thing happens here, they release this movie (today) before Flags..

At times moving, this movie largely fails due to its unfocused plot. The acting is solid though nobody stood out. I think it would have been better had they cut all the present day scenes of the son interviewing and writing his book and with his father. I found that completely uninteresting and I think the whole thing would flow better without it. B-

As unfocused as I found it, and as bad a job I thought it did with some of the characterization, I didn't hate it.

I think there's a great story buried in there somewhere about the flag-raising. It's a really interesting story that hasn't found a place in American history yet. But I don't know if it's cinematic material, necessarily. The film lacks intimacy in dealing with the effects on the three men, but I don't know if a better screenplay could have better served the story or not. It seems as though the anguish and moral ambiguity that plagued the men was something that they carried with them throughout the rest of their lives, and that seems rather unfilmable to me.

But the film operates with respect and Eastwood-style solemnity, and it kept me compelled. There are some moving moments near the end, despite the film not really having anything to say 'til about the last 10 minutes.

It's clumsy and uneven, but it's not a misfire.

B-

Looking forward to Letters from Iwo Jima.

Rather disappointing. Letters puts this to shame. It is so uneven and slow at many times. I just could not get connected to the characters at all.

B