Jennifer Vogel (Dylan Penn) has had a push and pull relationship with her dad John (Sean Penn) all of her life. Therefore she was not surprised when called into a meeting with the authorities and interviewed by a U.S. Marshall (Regina King) about her father. The authorities were also trying to get a feel on whether she might know where the balance of the high quality counterfeit money he printed might be located.
John Vogel was a big dreamer with big ideas and big plans an entrepreneur always on the go. To facilitate these plans he was constantly borrowing money and keeping one step ahead of the creditors. Unfortunately, he did not always keep his family informed or present in his life so they were often left holding the bag when creditors came calling to collect. This also got John mixed up with the shadier element of society who were looking to break limbs instead of foreclosing when money was owed.
Sean Penn both directs and stars in the film. He originally only signed on to direct being aware of how involved a director has to be in a production, and that fact that he was guiding both of his kids (Hopper Penn plays John Vogel's son Nick). But after the original choice Casey Affleck dropped out due to scheduling and Matt Damon turned the role down to do Stillwater. It was Damon who pushed Penn to take the role seeing it as a natural family fit. Jez Buttenworth's screenplay based on Jennifer Vogels book lacks depth as many of the characters are not fully fleshed and relies too heavily on the perceived hero repeatedly disappointing parent trope.
Dylan Penn does as much as she can with the material.She shines as Jennifer truly making the production her film. From the first scene discussing the events of the police chase and standoff with her dad she is even keel and quiet as she takes in all the information. Her main comment after asking to touch one of the counterfeit bills is a remark that her Dad's work was beautiful. She has several confrontations with both her dad and her Mom Patty (Katheryn Winnick) seemingly more disappointed in her Mom for not protecting her in several situations over the actions of her volatile father. Sean Penn despite having stepped in at the last moment to act is credible as the highly unreliable John Vogel. However, given the strength of the real life story to be told here some good sequences do not add up enough to engage an audience in the film as a whole.
** Out of Four.
Flag Day | Sean Penn | U.S.A. 2021| 109 Minutes.
Tags: Entrepreneur, Loans, Debts, Foreclosure, Alcoho.lism, Traveling, Journalism, Bank Robbery, Counterfeiting, Police Chase, Minnesota, 8 Millimetre Camera, June 14th.
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