ReelBob: ‘Flag Day’ ★★★

By Bob Bloom

“Flag Day” is based on a true story about a daughter’s love for her errant, scheming and swindling father.

It’s also a tender portrait by an artist, in this case actor-director Sean Penn, showing off his love and pride for his talented daughter, Dylan, who portrays Jennifer Vogel, the aforementioned daughter, opposite her dad as Jennifer’s infamous father, John.

The movie is a memory piece, as shown through Jennifer’s perspective, as she reflects on her father’s influence and absences.

Despite his mercurial lifestyle, John Vogel is a loving and caring father who dotes on and encourages Jennifer and her younger brother, Nick (Hopper Penn, Sean Penn’s son and Dylan’s brother).

The childhoods of Jennifer and Nick are harrowing; arguments between their parents drive their mother to alcoholism and John’s incessant scams have the family perpetually on the move.

Yet, to the children, John handles all of this turmoil as magical adventures, allowing the family to travel the country.

“Flag Day” is an intimate movie with Penn, the director, caressing his daughter with the camera, examining her every emotion.

The editing and pacing, though, is a bit ragged and fragmented. Years pass as Jennifer matures into a rebellious teenager who, after a violent incident with her mother’s second husband, seeks solace with her father.

Wisely, Penn hints at some of the cracks in John’s façade. He is not very happy to see Jennifer nor to be burdened with her.

He makes excuses for why she cannot live with him, but they fall on deaf ears and father and daughter begin to slowly reconnect.

Later, after John is arrested for bank robbery and sentenced to 15 years in prison, Jennifer takes off. She is homeless for a while, before returning to her mother and brother.

Jennifer decides she wants to be a journalist; yet the screenplay provides no inkling about her wanting to write or having any talent as a writer.

“Flag Day” is based on a book written by Jennifer Vogel. Vogel, who graduated from the University of Minnesota, did write for a few newspapers, so Penn may have decided that having a scene explaining her passion for writing was superfluous.

The script by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth lacks nuance and complexity. Much is detailed about John and Jennifer’s relationship, but it is mostly surface shadings. The film fails to really go deep inside the characters.

We know John does what he does because he wants the respect and admiration of his children and society. But we never know when or what in his life propelled him to yearn for that recognition.

We are shown how deeply Jennifer loves her father, but the movie cannot burrow into her psyche to detail why she places so much blind faith in a man she knows is unreliable and untrustworthy.

“Flag Day” — the title refers to John Vogel’s favorite holiday — is an emotional portrayal of a dysfunctional family. It also is a study of two people who, despite long distances and absences, are emotionally joined at the hip.

Penn and his screenwriters fail to come to grips with whose story they want to tell. The movie nearly spends as much time with Penn’s John Vogel as it does with Dylan Penn’s Jennifer.

Director Penn elicits a strong performance from his daughter. At times, it is a raw portrayal of a young woman trying to find herself and make sense of a tumultuous life.

“Flag Day” is an upsetting roller-coaster ride, despite sharp performances by Dylan and Sean Penn. You worry about and want Jennifer to succeed, but you also feel sympathy for her troubled father.

The movie could have been more focused and zero more intently on Jennifer because no matter where she goes or what she does, the shadow of her father always is present.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

FLAG DAY
3 stars out of 4
(R), drug use, violence, language