Flag Day is a 2021 American drama film directed by and starring Sean Penn based on Jennifer Vogel's 2004 memoir, Flim-Flam Man: A True Family History.[4] It premiered in competition at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival[5] and was released in cinemas on August 20, 2021 by United Artists Releasing. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.
Premise
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The daughter (Dylan Penn) of a con artist (Sean Penn) struggles to come to terms with her father's past, involving the fourth-largest seizure of counterfeit bills in U.S. history, nearly $20 million.
It was announced in March 2019 that a casting call for the film had been issued, with filming for the project due to commence in Winnipeg, Canada.[10][11][12]
In an interview with Deadline Hollywood at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Penn said that he initially thought that it would be something he might act in, but after trouble identifying the right director he took on the offer as it was a movie that he would have liked to see get made.[19] It is the first film directed by Penn in which he also appears.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July 2021. Prior to the festival, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, with plans to release it later that year through their joint venture, United Artists Releasing.[20] It was released on August 20, 2021.[21] It was previously scheduled to be released on August 13, but moved back a week to avoid competing with another MGM film, Respect.[22]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to Flag Day features original music by Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard and Cat Power. The first single, "My Father's Daughter" marks the musical debut of Vedder's then-17-year-old daughter Olivia, who also sings lead on the song "There's a Girl".[23] The album with the thirteen-track soundtrack was released on August 20, 2021.[24]
During promotion for the movie, at a time when thousands were dying monthly from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Penn stated he didn't want anyone who chose not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to be allowed to see the movie in theaters, which upset the anti-vaxxer element.[25]
Reception
Box office
Flag Day was released in 24 theaters and made $40,750 in its opening weekend. According to Deadline Hollywood, the film was targeting an "older, sophisticated demo." In its initial release, 56% of all audiences were over the age of 55, low numbers that were credited to the Delta variant. The film was screened in 50 theaters in its second weekend.[26]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 40% of 86 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Flag Day benefits from powerful performances and a moving fact-based story, but it's largely lost in the movie's melodramatic din."[27]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[28]
