Directed by Sean Penn and stars in the powerful true-to-life family drama that’s a great show for Dylan Penn’s daughter – Deadline

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Director Sean Penn returns to the Cannes Film Festival today in official competition with his first ever film, which he is also in.

Flag Day is indeed a solid and worthwhile effort for him as an actor and director. But first and foremost, he will be remembered as a dazzling display of acting talent for his daughter, Dylan Penn, who plays the lead role in a true-to-life story based on Jennifer Vogel’s memoir, Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of Dad’s fake life.

Dylan plays Jennifer (she shares the role with Addison Timick at age 6 and Jaden Riley at age 11-13) as the film turns into the story of a unique relationship between a charismatic but charismatic daughter and father, who spent years in prison for bank robbery, was a conspirator and dreamer, and became the most famous forger. In US history, he single-handedly forged more than $20 million.

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However, Jennifer was fascinated by him, as we can see from a young age, always ready to follow him on what she considered life’s great adventures. This was where Joy learned, but she almost fell down the same rabbit hole as her father, who left the family, which included her brother, Nick (played in later years by Ben Huber’s son Jack Ben), and his ex-wife Patty (Catherine Winnick) ), who finds herself at constant odds with rebellious Jennifer, who, like a moth to a flame, hits the road and eventually finds her way back to her father, a conflicting relationship from which she is hard to escape, even as she charts her way out.

Ben is excellent in this role, one that fits him perfectly, takes him emotionally from the highest levels to the lowest, a man of the underworld who feels that he is always one step away from the American dream, but can never achieve it, a criminal who is unable to help himself, character Tragic in many ways, but someone we may even know.

MGM

The film actually begins with Jennifer being debriefed from her father’s problems by US Marshall Blake (Regina King in two cameo scenes that end the film) and then proceeds in a non-linear fashion through three distinct eras in Jennifer’s life as her story. Evidenced by her own memories and then as a budding journalist, her father’s memories of her are a true dream of her own that was nearly put off by some bad decisions and the shadow of her family ties.

However, when she gets a small job at a local newspaper, we see her growth as a young woman climbing out of the dark. The real Jennifer Vogel rose above her almost ruined life and became a role model, perfectly played by an inspiring performance by Dylan Penn, who reveals several layers of depth and becomes the true heart and true soul of this film. It’s clear that Dylan (her mother, Robin Wright, Benn’s ex-wife) has inherited her parents’ acting chops, and she delivers on that promise in a multidimensional role that makes her solid as a star in the making.

AP Photo / Chris Pizzello

Sean Penn takes on the role of John Vogel with usual courage and strength, as we see this man’s life on fire. Unforgettable here in a movie owned by his daughter. It’s a real family affair, as Hopper’s son also gets to have some scenes like a son who remains loyal to his mother and his family roots while his sister walks on the wild side.

Winnick is great, with some dynamic moments of her own. Josh Brolin appears briefly as Uncle Beck, and there’s a great, albeit very brief, supporting role of Dale Dickey as Grandma Margaret.

Two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Putz is fine as Patty’s second husband, and Eddie Marsan is welcome in a small role, too. As a director, Ben knows how to cast, that’s for sure, and this is one case of keeping her in the family that really pays off. With a pulsating screenplay by playwrights Jez Butterworth and John Henry Butterworth, the focus here is on familial ties and relationships, not the dizzying scheme of fake bills that made John the target of the law, a story that could be an entirely different movie all in its own. Flag Day was produced by William Horberg (currently co-producing with The Queen’s Gambit), John Killick, and Fernando Solichin.

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As with many Penn films, the soundtrack is to die for, and features some great original songs from Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, and Cat Power. With his fourth film in competition at Cannes (after 1991’s The Indian Runner, 2001’s The Pledge, and 2016’s The Last Face), it’s a return to the power behind the camera that he’s shown so often in films that also include a hit in ’19 2007 Into The Wild, and another star of Jack Nicholson, The Crossing Guard (1995).

As a filmmaker, he is drawn to strong character-driven drama, and he found another great one on Science Day. MGM picked up the domestic rights and released on August 20.

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