Directed by Sean Penn, Flag Day follows Jennifer Vogel, played by Dylan Penn, who comes to terms with her larger-than-life father. As a child, Jennifer marveled at his magnetizing energy and ability to make life feel like a grand adventure.
Yes. Dylan is Sean’s real-life daughter, which makes the production intriguing. She is a celebrity model whose international talent is huge.
Jennifer’s father taught her much about love and joy, but he also was the most notorious counterfeiter in US history. Based on a true story, Flag Day is an intimate family portrait of a young woman who struggles to rise above the wreckage of her past. At the same time, she reconciles the inescapable bond between a daughter and her father.
At the heart of the movie is a love story between a father and daughter. Sean Penn describes it, “a complicated one.” It is a story of one woman’s pursuit to find truth in her life after growing up in the shadow of her father’s criminality. We see the bonds of family ebb and flow with each truthful revelation and each destructive lie. This father-daughter story serves as a metaphor for a country that often cannot live up to its highest ideals.
A country that doesn’t follow through on its promises. Stoic imagery of flags waving and fireworks give way to darkened windows, disguises and eventually handcuffs and jail cells. Ultimately, it is a story of perseverance, of truth, and learning who you are in the shadow of someone else. It is a story of uncovering memories and examining those memories from a raw and vulnerable place.
The movie includes an impressive cast Josh Brolin, Norbert Leo Butz, Dale Dickey, Eddie Marsan, Bailey Noble, Hopper Jack Penn and Katheryn Winnick.
