When I decided to go see Last Flag Flying last weekend, it was really just a last minute decision. No preconceived views on the movie, very little information on what the movie was about, just me and my blank impressions about this film. After getting to the end of the movie I was happy with myself for giving it a chance.

The basic premise of Last Flag Flying is centered around the death of Larry “Doc” Shepard’s (Steve Carell) son, who was a marine in Iraq. Carell’s character reconnects with his two good friends from his time as a marine in Vietnam and asks them to help put his son to rest. During the course of the three old friends’ sweet journey to New Hampshire, they recall the memories of their time in the Vietnam war and how it shaped them into the people they are.

In general, I thought Last Flag Flying was a nice, touching film with a good amount of comical scenes, peppered out to not make the plot too sad, but at the same time, emotional. I thought the music in the movie was also well timed-out and that the song selection was very well chosen for the mood of the scenes. I also liked that the movie brought up relevant questions on whether war is at all necessary and how it impacts everyone in their own way, whether good or bad.    

Though I thought the movie had many great qualities about it, I definitely felt like there were a few elements that could have been approved upon. Even though the movie had a sweet sincerity to it at some points, I felt the movie was dragging at time and could have been shorter than two hours. Another problem I had with this movie was the fact that though I thought there were many touching scenes in the film, I felt like the three main characters made it a difficult for me to believe had a true emotional connection.

Despite my critiques for Last Flag Flying, I would absolutely consider it one of my favorite movies from this year. It is certainly the movie to go see if you are in the mood for a sentimental plot line with a few laughs.