53
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanEven telling the story of this scarred, flawed, barely together family, Penn creates honest notes of nostalgia.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThere are some pretty broad emotional strokes here and maybe a fair bit of grandstanding. But it’s made with some style.
- 79TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondWhile the film sometimes struggles with disparate tones, it’s a solid, subtle drama that opts in most cases for restraint over excess.
- 67The PlaylistCaroline TsaiThe PlaylistCaroline TsaiThe Penn father-daughter duo undoubtedly brings an air of authenticity to the Vogels’ relationship, which is wonderful at its best and tragic at its worst. Yet the film as a whole is somewhat of a mixed bag: both a paean for a lost America and an indictment of a modern American reality.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyIt’s just too bad there’s not more of a personal stamp on the material to rescue it from its indie-film clichés. Flag Day is not a complete misfire, and if a no-name director had made it, the movie would probably get a pass. But considering the emotional stakes involved it’s neither terribly memorable nor moving.
- 42The Film StageDavid KatzThe Film StageDavid KatzA piece of would-be American classicism, this is a hackneyed, unevenly written hybrid between a con-man antihero drama and an emotive, heart-bruised coming-of-age film. Like his last, disastrous effort The Last Face, the good intentions are palpable but chased with a real streak of vanity and self-regard.
- 40The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinDylan and Penn do share a few lovely scenes . . . . In such moments, the project suddenly and charmingly perks up. The rest of the time, ‘flag’ is about right.
- 30Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe film is so weighed down by self-importance that the proceedings are embalmed in solemnity.
- 25Slant MagazinePat BrownSlant MagazinePat BrownFlag Day is little more than a near-two-hour montage of tear-streaked faces shouting blandly melodramatic lines at each other.