Two wars, Vietnam and Iraq, intersect in memory and grief in “Last Flag Flying,” a drama that gets considerable mileage out of its three outstanding leads.
It’s 2003, just after the start of the Iraq War, when soft-spoken Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) walks into a bar owned by motormouthed ex-Marine Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston), who’s also holding court with his regulars. “You don’t recognize me, do you?” Doc asks Sal, and soon Doc has to remind him: The two served together in Vietnam, up until an incident that got Doc thrown in the brig for a couple of years and mustered out of the Navy with a Bad Conduct Discharge.