Dana is really the heart of the movie, giving a subtle, low-key performance.
Raising Flagg (2007)
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Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:3
Rotten:10
Average Rating:4.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Alan Arkin, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2007 for his role as the crusty old grandpa in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, stars as another crusty character in RAISING FLAGG, a comedy directed by... Alan Arkin, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2007 for his role as the crusty old grandpa in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, stars as another crusty character in RAISING FLAGG, a comedy directed by Neal Miller and written by Miller, his wife, Nancy, and Dorothy Velasco. Arkin plays Flagg Purdy, a handyman living in a small Oregon town with his wife, Ada (Barbara Dana, Arkin's real-life ex-wife), and their daughter Jenny (Stephanie Lemelin). All of their other children have grown up and moved away--as far from their father as possible. When Flagg gets into a heated dispute with his neighbor, Gus Falk (Austin Pendleton), over sheep messing with Flagg's water supply, the two end up in court, where Flagg triumphs by a technicality while losing favor with the community. With everyone against him, he collapses into bed, sure he is going to die. Soon his crazy family--including radio talk show host Ann Marie (Glenne Headly), real estate agent Rachel (Lauren Holly), and traveling minister Travis (Matthew Arkin, Alan's real-life son and Dana's stepson)--is gathered around him, causing more and more trouble and reopening old wounds. Based on the short story "Don't Cry for Me" by John D. Weaver, RAISING FLAGG is a follow-up (though not a sequel) to 1984's A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE, in which Arkin and Dana also played Flagg and Ada in a movie based on a Weaver story with a screenplay by Neal and Nancy Miller. In RAISING FLAGG, Arkin is a riot as Flagg, who refuses to bend in any direction, insisting he is always right and always treated unfairly despite all the evidence to the contrary. Neal Miller carefully carves out each member of the Purdy family, giving each one a unique relationship with the troubled father. [More]
Starring: Alan Arkin, Lauren Holly, Glenne Headly, Daniel Quinn
Starring: Alan Arkin, Lauren Holly, Glenne Headly, Daniel Quinn, Matthew Arkin, Austin Pendleton, Barbara Dana, Richard Kind, Clifton James
Director: Neal Miller
Director: Neal Miller
Screenwriter: Neal Miller, Nancy Miller, Dorothy Velasco
Producer: Neal Miller, Nancy Miller
Composer: Alan Barcus, Les Hooper
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Reviews for Raising Flagg
Has some fine moments for Alan Arkin and his ex-wife Barbara Dana, but its bloated inconsequentiality is simply head-shaking.
Erich Roland’s HD cinematography is the only element of the film one can honestly enjoy.
Alan Arkin has the enviable ability of making nearly everything he's in watchable. Sadly, Raising Flagg sorely tests that ability.
Some of the characters' problems are wrapped up a bit too neatly, but the mild contrivances work because the principles are so endearing -- we want them to be happy, so when they are, it's satisfying, even if the happy moments aren't so honestly achieved.
Too bad the offscreen intrigue doesn't make up for what flags in Flagg.
It's slight stuff, with several conflicts settled off-screen, but it's not without its low-key charms.
Crusty characters, a bluegrass soundtrack and a dysfunctional family that could exist only in the minds of Hollywood screenwriters make this film more precious than real -- or funny.
Alan Arkin tries, but fails, as the gold standard curmudgeon who never had it so good.
Miller's affection for the Purdys... and their rustic way of life can't compensate for the script's clunky pacing and occasional moralizing.
The story is fairly slight and some of the characters are broadly drawn or not sketched at all.
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