Everyone in America should see Flags of Our Fathers, said Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times. Especially 'œyounger generations who think of World War II as some dusty piece of black-and-white history.' It tells the story behind that famous photograph of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima in 1945. Moments after a first, smaller flag came down, photographer Joe Rosenthal captured six men planting a second, larger flag. The three 'œheroes' who survived the rest of the battle were then sent on a publicity tour to promote war bonds. Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) loved the attention, Doc Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) felt anguish that the full truth behind the flag-raising was not being revealed, and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) drank himself into a stupor. Clint Eastwood's movie follows the tour in one story line, portrays the horrific battle for Iwo Jima in a second, and documents Bradley's son's investigation of the event in a third. That 'œmultiplicity of story lines leads to panoramic breadth, as opposed to dramatic depth,' said Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. The only character we get a real sense of is Hayes, while Bradley and Gagnon become cartoons. The rest of the movie is filled with 'œclichés about the ambiguous nature of heroism,' said Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun. Eastwood takes a vivid, poignant story and dilutes its meaning with nostalgia and overstatement.
Rating: R
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