User reviews

It's not that the story isn't good - it's just told in an extremely drawn out way - they just tried way too hard to make it artistic. Dylan Penn was fantastic but I feel like the 8000 close ups of her face weren't to the films credits - more like her dad was directing and wanting to showcase her. Great soundtrack- but again - entire songs played practically. Sean Penn is a great actor and he played the part well - it's just too bad this was a drag to watch - if you're fast forwarding because it's so slow that's not a good thing.

As "Flag Day" (2021 release; 108 min.) opens, it is "June, 1992" and John (the character played by Sean Penn) is being chased by a police helicopter and a slew of police cars. Along the way we are reminded that the film is "based on a true story". We then go back in time to "Summer 1975", where we get to know John and his daughter Jennifer, then 11 yrs young, as he teaches her how to drive a car (she sits on his lap and he falls asleep, no, really). At home, John is fighting a lot with his wife, much to the chagrin of Jennifer and her brother Nick. At this point we are 10 min into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the first film where Sean Penn directs AND stars (he has directed others before, at times with excellent result, look no further than "Into The Wild"). Here he brings to the big screen the memoir of Jessica Vogel about the complicated relationship with her dad and the rest of the family. While in and of itself this could make for a great film, I'm sorry to report that it didn't happen. There are several factors: first, none of the main characters are all that likeable to begin with. Second, the script is simply very uneven and somehow cannot reel us in to the story. Third, the film's photography is horrendous: quasi non-stop extreme close-ups, with hand-held camera work, and constantly in and out of focus "artsy" looks, resulting in a quasi headache inducing viewing experience. You just wonder: WHY? On the plus side, it is great to see the Penn family, oozing with acting talent. Besides Sean, there is his daughter Dylan (playing Jennifer) and his son Hopper (as Nick). All that said, I was quite disappointed with the film, after seeing the promising trailer in recent weeks. It feels like a lost opportunity.

"Flag Day" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to mixed reviews. It premiered in US theaters this weekend and I couldn't wait to see it. The Tuesday early evening screening where I saw this at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati turned out to be a private screening: I was literally the only person in the theater. Given that "Flag Day" is unlikely to pick up strong word of mouth, I don't see this playing in theaters much longer. But of course don't take my word for it. If you are a fan of Sean Penn or Dylan Penn, I'd suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (while you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Beware: Sean Penn said that those who werent vaccinated, should not come to see this movie. No worries Sean Penn, I think this movie will not garner much attention at all in the theatres after an already luke warm reception at Cannes in 2021 and a disastrous opening weekend at the box office.

Sean Penn said he had retired from acting, after his latest film got booed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. He hasnt made anything good in at least 15 years but now he is "back" with directing and starring in Flag Day.

Uh, no, he has not really made a comeback, because this movie is pretty tedious to watch. I am being kind now...

This movie is not such a laughable disaster as "The Last Face", from 2016, but it does come close. Especially the many flashbacks destroy any bond this story might have had in the original novel, which I did not read.

Filming a book is very often a recipe for disaster, because when the director wants to tell everything from the original book, one often gets a movie that is simply not coherent or enticing, let alone mesmirizing. This movie is all over the place...

Not any good? Well, the daughter of Sean Penn surely can act well. It is beautifully shot. But in the end this movie is really artsy fartsy and tedious. I never really got into the story nor into the main characters...simply disappointing...

As soon as this movie was over both my wife and I said, "I sure am glad I didn't listen to the several very negative reviews." This is a really good movie, it really is Jennifer's story, how she overcame very bad situations in her growing up, both with her father and with her mother. It is a true story and now Jennifer has a family and works as an investigative reporter and is working on her first novel.

The movie is set mostly in Minnesota (filmed in Canada) and the title is a reference to the celebration of Flag Day, with a parade and fireworks. The movie goes back and forth, at times in 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1992 mostly. It is done in a way that it is easy to keep track.

We watched it at home on DVD from our public library. I am neither a big fan of Sean Penn nor a detractor, but to me he is brilliant here as the duplicitous dad who you could never trust to be truthful. And Dylan, his daughter in real life, is really good in the role of the teenage and adult Jennifer.

Long, incoherent, and unfocused. Uninteresting dialog replaced action. A little effort could have made the movie much better, such as something to make the characters interesting (within the movie).

I read the reviews and considered not watching. However, the preview sold me, and I'm glad it did. This is a solid movie with a solid story.

Dylan Penn has talent, just like her dad, and she carries this film along. I expect to see much more of her in the future.

You know, I get it. We all have different tastes in film. But I just love a slow burn. This film is slow, but in such a good way. It is intentionally slow. The main characters are developed and real. The pace of the movie allowed a beautiful and tragic story to be told and it is deeply felt by the viewer.

I loved most of the soundtrack. Also the flashbacks were easy to follow. Some of the film played out like a fuzzy dream, and I loved it. The cinematography is beautiful.

This is not a film deserving of a 10, but it certainly deserves a higher rating than the current. If you're looking for men flying around in brightly colored underwear and shooting lasers from their eyes, than this is not the film for you. But if you are patient, appreciate beauty and have an open heart, then watch this film.

Understand this is based on a true story .. but yeah boring, the film is based on the point of view of the daughter ideolizing her father. The double life that the father might have had is not explain, nor demonstrated if not at all. The Genre: Thriller attached to this movie is totally fake. It just a boring drama. The soundtrack is not elevating it either.

It would seems that the only thing that Sean Penn is doing quite well in this movie is promoting his daughter as an actress, and he does not do the same for his son, putting a fake hair on his head making sure we know he just there for show.

Greetings again from the darkness. Life is full of choices, however sometimes destiny takes charge and there's little we can do about it. One's parents are the most obvious and crucial example. We don't choose our parents and yet their impact on our lives is unavoidable. Jennifer Vogel's book, "Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father's Counterfeit Life", has been adapted for the screen by the FORD V FERRARI screenwriting brothers, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth. The film is directed by two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn, who also co-stars.

Told through the eyes of Jennifer (played here by Sean Penn's daughter Dylan Penn, a lookalike of her mother Robin Wright), this is the "based on a true story" of John Vogel, but also the story of Jennifer, who managed to overcome challenges that stemmed from her far-from-ideal childhood. Jennifer's mother Patty (Katheryn Winnick, "Vikings") is an alcoholic and has a tumultuous marriage to John, a con man who constantly spews bombast and fabrications (aka lies) as he tries to scam the system and impress his family with his big plans (that go nowhere).

Since the film opens with a law enforcement standoff, and with Jennifer being interviewed by a Federal Marshal (Oscar winner Regina King), we know how John's saga concludes, and most of the movie is spent in Jennifer's memories to paint the picture of her dad and her life. Some of these are "flashes" of moments, while others are extended segments where we really get a feel for the father that cluttered a daughter's mind and life. It's tough to watch 105 minutes of a guy with little redeeming value.

This is not the place to detail what we see, but it's at times disturbing to see the memories of a father who doesn't so much slip in and out of the lives of Jennifer, younger brother Nick (played by Sean's son Hopper Jack Penn), and mom Patty, as he appears and vanishes in proverbial explosions akin to the Wicked Witch of the West. Given that her mom is equally inept at parenting, high school Jennifer seems destined to follow in her father's footsteps.

Covering a period from 1975 through 1992, we see Jennifer as a young kid, and then Ms. Penn takes over the role in high school. She is also our narrator, some of which is overwrought for a film that mostly strives to stay grounded in family dynamics, as Jennifer works to overcome. In addition to the previously mentioned appearance by Ms. King, there are also brief yet effective turns by Josh Brolin (as John's brother Uncle Beck), Dale Dickey (as John's crusty mother), Norbert Leo Butz (as Patty's sleazy boyfriend), and Eddie Marsan (near the film's end).

In addition to overuse of voiceover, director Penn includes a few too many song/musical interludes. Some of these songs are excellent (Cat Power, Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard), but they feel a bit heavy-handed and forced into the film. In fact, melodrama is chosen over nuance on multiple occasions, but when the film is good, it's very good. The best scenes are between father and daughter, Sean and Dylan, the latter of which shows flashes of incredible depth. We look forward to more of her work. As for Sean, can you name another actor whose natural look better exemplifies a guy who has had the snot kicked out of him by life (even if he's made his own bed)? He portrays John Vogel as a con man who believes achieving the American Dream is something he's owed, not something to earn. His love of Chopin is not enough to excuse his horrific parenting, scamming, or felonious behavior. There are various forms of freedom, and Jennifer must discover freedom from someone who has prevented you from being her true self.

Opens in select theaters on August 20, 2021.

This film is little more than two hours of crying and shouting. I get enough of that watching EastEnders with the missus.

Gripping, not uninteresting but boring. I was really deceived by this drama, I don't know why. Sean Penn is awesome but the rythm is so slow and the topic flat doesn't seem to convince audiences, at least I was not. I expected something really different, many Sundance festival movies were more excitng than this feature. Sean Penn has given us much more quality. But it remains something worth seeing though, not a garbage material.

Classic Americana hidden within a dark reality of a true story crime drama. Many truths lie within including addiction, betrayal, neglect, child abuse and disfunction abound. Amazing Soundtrack. Sean Penn is not great but the story is. Dylan shines and I think that was the goal anyway.

Dramatic Tale of a Family's Journey thru the Up's and Down's of Life. Told Flashback style. Sean Penn directs his real life daughter Dylan Penn, who looks so much like her Mother, and Plays John a Father with many issues. Including Dishonesty but He Loves his Family very much and will do anything to help them. Including Crime. Based on a true story, Film portrays the Relationship between a Crazy Dreamer and his only Daughter an aspiring writer. Mr Penn's Son also is Cast member along with Josh Brolin as there Uncle. Granted the story does bounce around some, as suggested in other reviews, but to me the commanding Soundtrack helps the Flow. It is a Sean Penn Movie and he makes his screen time count. Signature Cigarette Smoking, Drug references, Loud Arguments and some Politics in there too. Visuals Well Done and was Filmed entirely in Manitoba Canada. Impressive debut by his Daughter ! Nice work by Katheryn Winnick as the Mother. Plenty Close Ups, including of Regina King as a US Marshall. Give it a Look ?

If you need a movie to prove that Hollywood is filled with narcissistic nepotism than look no further! The over-acting cannot be mistaken...the Penn family has a genetic pre-disposition for it apparently, and they don't mind letting you know it ! Not only is this movie bad...but it is a testimony to why Hollywood is dying.

Penn decides to take an interesting story about a counter fitter and make a film as though it was directed by Terrence Malik. It's close to being a disaster. It's so slow and boring. All the characters are boring and uninteresting.

There's a lot to like about this film, and it's certainly not a waste of 2 hours of the viewers' time. But by the same token, the emotional impact you are clearly supposed to feel, never really materializes. The story investigates the rollercoaster of family love, hate, truth and lies, disappointment and redemption, and more disappointment.

It's hard to gauge how the main character, Jennifer, is feeling on that ride, despite the soundtrack holding your hand the whole way through. It's not all that bad, quite good even, but the placement of songs (and more precisely their lyrics) is just so "on the nose" in the story. It must have been a challenge for Sean Penn not to use Bob Dylan songs, but maybe he thought it would be easier to compare Bob Seger unfavorably to Chopin.

Finally, as this was presumably based on a true story, and a book written by the journalist main character, I wondered throughout why the script wasn't better. At first, it sounded like an amateurish diary recitation, awkward in its attempts to sound more erudite. But it bled into dialogue as well. All but Sean Penn, that is (who I suspect may have been more motivated to craft his own words, being the director as well). His character does sound the most realistic of all, the free spirit father spouting hollow platitudes of family values, which are increasingly met with less and less acceptance . But it's the rare moments of almost brutal observation, that lend credulity that his love for his daughter is genuine.

I had hoped for more, but what arrived was a standard, not terribly earth-shattering story, which had an easy enough theme to follow. I don't expect that I'll watch it again, but I am slightly intrigued by what appeared to be a couple oblique references to the Billy Wilder/William Holden film, Stalag 17. Maybe John Vogel is meant to be an analogue for Sgt. J. J. Sefton?

Just couldn't hold my interest, to the point I actually stopped 38 minutes in tobgo do laundry. Moved so slowly yet jumped around so much I couldn't develop any kind of relationship with any character. Bored.

Flag Day starts with an image of a car chase juxtaposed with childhood images and a woman hearing from the police that her father had been printing fake money at scale.

A beautiful start that sets the tone for the rest of the film. Handheld, grainy shots, combined with rough edits and deep characters sunk in their failures and depression. Sean Penn is probably the most direct descendant of John Cassavetes in filmmaking today (and we know that they were friends, and that Cassavetes even wrote She's Delovely - later renamed She's So Lovely and directed by Nick Cassavetes- for him). The style of Flag Day is certainly reminiscent of Cassavetes (if you squint a little). But what would have been a perfectly great film in the 80's, maybe even the 90's, feels dated today, constantly pulled down by a sense of nostalgia that is not necessarily shared by the audience. This keeps the story and characters from ever surfacing and the audience is left wondering more than once when the film will end.

While not always clear, the film is ultimately the story of a man created by a culture and system that won't let him flourish and will seek to destroy him. From that point of view, the film does a much better job than other films such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing or Hillbilly Elegy at painting the story of the people that felt betrayed by America as it evolved. Also told from the point of view of someone (his daughter, beautifully played by Sean Penn's daughter Dylan Penn) who succeeded in the system, like Hillbilly Elegy was, to show both a balanced picture and the randomness of the system, it has the advantage of taking place in the 90's, taking away the unbearably pedagogical angle from other films around "here's why people voted for Trump".

Flag Day is based on a true story, and one can only wish Sean Penn had had the courage to free himself from that label, to let the film venture into more free and more poetic paths. It is when it allows itself that freedom, such as the scenes that take place on Flag Day, that it's at its best.

This movie just had a ho hum on it from the get-go. Good acting but just a boring story, and it never really explains itself... stuff just happens. I mean you don't just get to point B without a soluble A in there to make it all happen... and did they have boat-cars in the 70's? Maybe I guess... just a weird kinda movie bout a family and their demons and struggles... that's it. Not the worst,, not the best... a 5 star movie.

Watched #FlagDay. The movie is about a daughter, Her perception of her father who is addicted to crime. A true story. To me, it was more about family trauma and the lasting effects it had on His family.

Sean Penn is incredible. His daughter, Dylan Penn co-starred. Remarkable job. A must see!

This true story is not so uncommon - chasing the American Dream in whatever way possible, yet being able to bond with your child, albeit as an absentee father. At first I wondered why this story was chosen to be made into a film, as I'm sure there were better options. However, director and actor Sean Penn and his newb actor daughter Dylan Penn were outstanding with their performances, and made this film very powerful, touching and emotional. Although Dylan was monotonic for the most part, you could really feel the chemistry and bond her character had, and I'm sure is was much easier the fact it really was her dad. For that matter, every performance was pretty much perfect.

Penn's directing was also decent, and I had no problems with the time-line story telling, but I did find the 109 min runtime and the slow pacing drag out the story more than it should have. The screenplay felt a little scattered in some places, and I would've liked to see more father-daughter dynamics in the story. Cutting out about 10-20 mins from the adapted screenplay by Jez Butterworth would've done this film justice, and you wouldn't have lost any of the stories substance. The soundtracks, although very fitting, were too long and too many imo.

Nevertheless, it's a good story told well, that I enjoyed regardless of its flaws. I guess maybe I'm a little biased being a father and having a daughter that age, and a longtime fan of the Penns, but I still do recommend it, and will say the critics really went too hard on this one. It's a well deserved 7.5 rounded up to an 8/10 from me.

I was personally very touched by the story, being a young woman with not so rosy family background & Sean Penn's character reminded me a lot of my own dad, felt a lot of sympathy towards him and his daughter. Also the era the movie was set in has always felt achingly nostalgic to me and cinematography was beautiful. I thought it would've been interesting to see more of the dad's criminal activity and more linear approach to the story rather than the short flashbacks back to childhood, although the ones at the very end worked well to bring out emotion. Some scenes with music went on a little too long for my liking too. Acting was good. Definitely not a bad movie, but I can understand how someone who didn't relate to it as much wouldn't be as captivated by it, it could've been made more engaging.

It's fair to say that the last decade (or more if you want to be brutally honest) has not been a kind one to Sean Penn.

Discounting the collection of personal life issues that have plagued him in this time, Penn's best roles in front of the camera amount to mere cameos in the likes of Tree of Life, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and more recently a scene-stealing segment in Licorice Pizza, while his foray's behind the camera haven't amounted to much with some music videos and the much maligned The Last Face all he can lay claim to as a filmmaker.

Undoubtedly an attempt to stop the run of misfires and failures, Penn launched himself headfirst into his debut outing where he would direct himself in, while at the same time giving his daughter Dylan Penn a chance to take the spotlight as a film lead in this based on a true story tale of journalist/writer Jennifer Vogel's life growing up around serial criminal offender dad John.

Borrowing a style that could be summed up as Terrence Malick lite combined with any other rural crime based drama film from multiple eras, Flag Day feels like an instantly familiar family centered crime drama that never once feels like it's made by the same director that embedded Into the Wild with such heart and energy or The Pledge with such raw emotional power, while in an acting sense, Penn's overacting and inability to make John Vogel anything more than a caricature showcases the performers seeming inability to now be a lead actor.

It's hard to know what Penn wanted out of this story exactly, what drew him to pursue making the tale of the Vogel's into a feature film, there's nothing unique or original about what happens and certainly nothing inspiring about how the story is told in feature form and while his daughter Dylan does a decent job at bringing Jennifer to life, a child, teenager and woman that battles to understand her father that clearly loves her but doesn't do a great job of showing it, no ones coming out of such a bland tale better for the experience.

With nothing drawing everything all together and an unfocused delivery that ensures no extended segments or our main characters are allowed time too properly grow or engage us, Flag Day might not be devoid of solid moments or potential but its an effort that sums up perfectly where Sean Penn is at with his career right now, a place that feels far removed from the likes of Mystic River, I Am Sam, Into the Wild and 21 Grams.

Final Say -

Potentially there's a gripping feature that could exist when telling the story of Jennifer and John Vogel but it's not Sean Penn's newest effort behind and in front of the camera. A mostly lifeless and forgettable drama, it appears as though the best of Penn's days in the industry are long since past if Flag Day is what we're going off.

2 briefcases out of 5

For more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Sean Penn took part in many important projects through decades and he is for sure one of the most influential performers in modern history. However, being a good actor does not make you also a capable director. I have not read the original novel by Vogel, but the movie is a cheesy and predictable story of a dysfunctional family and of the redemption path of a father that wants to win his daughter back. The plot is told from the point of view of Jennifer, who is played by Dylan Penn. Her tone of voice is flat while she narrates. She cannot carry any emotional weight, she is just not convincing with her facial expressions, nor body movements, therefore I could not be invested in her character. I get it: Sean wanted to have his little project with his daughter, however if he hired a competent actress, the movie would have been slightly better.

They used a lot of the shaky camera technique, which works on some sequences, to highlight tension between characters when they fight, but there are also a lot of scenes where this practice just does not fit. Sometimes I felt a little bit sick from all this unjustified and excessive movement. Photography is pretty average and uninspired, with tons of repetitive facial close ups. This movie has plenty of pointless music montages that keep stopping the narration. In a film that lasts only 1 hour and 50 minutes, this is quite problematic, because you are literally stealing time to progress your story. This affected the ending, which in my opinion was rushed and did not give a proper closure.

"Flag Day" is a pretty unremarkable and forgettable movie. When I got out of the theatre me and my friends were all extremely disappointed. Do not waste your time, and if you want to watch a good film starring Sean Penn, look back at his career, you will find tons of gems.