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If Clint Eastwood had never acted and only directed, he’d still have made a huge impact on the landscape of cinema. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is the largest canvas he has painted on, delivering a thought-provoking and touching examination of what makes a hero.

The film deconstructs the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. It happened at a time during WWII when support for the war was waning and money was running out to fund it. So the government called on the surviving men in the photograph to come home and tour the country, pushing the sale of war bonds to the public. The three survivors were John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe, CRASH), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford, HACKERS) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach, SMOKE SIGNALS).

The three men handled the fame differently. Doc quietly did his duty, but was tormented by the soldiers that were left behind or had died. Gagnon hadn’t even fired his gun during battle and saw the fame as his ticket out of the war and into a better life. Hayes, a Native American, had it the worst. He was constantly plagued with the horror that he saw and committed and could not handle the label of hero, driving him to become an alcoholic. Making matters worse, he had to endure racial ignorance and outright racism at every turn. He and Rene butted heads often, leaving Doc in the position to make the peace. Doc is specifically tortured by the memory of what happened to Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski (Jamie Bell, KING KONG), an eager, optimistic young soldier who the doc took under his wing. Hayes believes that their leader Mike Strank (Barry Pepper, THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA) should be celebrated as a hero not him. Other key characters include Keyes Beech (John Benjamin Hickey, FLIGHTPLAN), Hank Hansen (Paul Walker, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS), Col. Chandler Johnson (Robert Patrick, TERMINATOR 2), Capt. Severance (Neal McDonough, MINORITY REPORT), Pauline Harnois (Melanie Lynskey, HEAVENLY CREATURES), Franklin Sousley (Joseph Cross, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS) and Gust (Stark Sands, SHALL WE DANCE).

The core theme is that heroes are manufactured because people need them. The iconic photograph says victory, but in reality it wasn’t that simple. The photo was a picture of the second flag raised, which came less than a week into the month plus long battle. At first, one of the men was identified wrongly, but because it was already publicized they didn’t correct the error, making the wrong man the “hero.” The film weaves three timelines together. There are the battle scenes, the bond tour and some contemporary scenes with Bradley’s son writing the book on which the film was based. Eastwood does a good job of keeping the time lines straight with distinctive visual styles for each. However, sometimes the jumping does make it difficult to keep track of whom they are talking about during the tour and who that person is at the battle.

Eastwood doesn’t candy coat the results of war, providing his battle scenes with the same veracity of the opening sequences in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The film is more about its collective message than about individual characters, however some performances stand out.

Phillippe does a lot with his quiet, reserved role. Bell was the perfect choice for the energetic Iggy. Pepper is quite convincing as the dedicated leader. Given the largest range emotionally, Beach delivers a moving portrayal, giving us insight into the tormented soul of Hayes. One will easily find comparisons between this story and the Iraq war, but I feel the film is universal enough to be commenting about all wars. People need heroes for many reasons and governments need them for reasons too.