Richard Linklater Reveals Star-Studded Last Flag Flying Trailer

Richard Linklater has released the first trailer for his next project Last Flag Flying, and it will bring tears to your eyes. The movie stars Steve Carell as former Navy Corps medic Richard "Doc" Shepherd, who recruits two of his Vietnam buddies to help him bury his son after he is killed in Iraq.

The trailer begins with Shepherd in the car with the ex-Marine Sal (Bryan Cranston), who has agreed to come on this trip even though he has no idea where they're going or what they're doing. Their first stop is at the church of another ex-Marine, Mueller (Laurence Fishburne), now a pastor but formerly a "first-class drinker, gambler." "I haven't seen these men in decades," Mueller says. "They represent a dark period in my life." 

Shepherd explains to Sal and Mueller that he is there because of his son, Larry. "A year ago, he joined the Corps and then two days ago, they told me he had been killed," he tells them. "He's going to be buried in Arlington and I was wondering if you guys could come with me." 

Shepherd needs the emotional support from his friends as he struggles to deal with his son's death. One of his primary struggles comes with his decision not to let his son be buried at Arlington, despite the insistence of military officials who say that he deserves to lie there. "They sent him off to a godforsaken desert," Shepherd says. "Why? I'm taking Larry home."

Shepherd, Sal, and Mueller then go on a road trip with the coffin back up the East Coast to Shepherd's home in suburban New Hampshire. "The thing that made Larry different from the rest of us is he had a happy childhood," one of Larry's fellow soldiers tells Shepherd on the way. "He said that?" Shepherd asks incredulously. "Yes, sir," the soldier replies. He later adds, "Be there for your brothers. That's all that really matters." 

Linklater directs Last Flag Flying based on a script he co-wrote with Darryl Poniscan, who penned the 2005 novel on which the movie is based. Yul Vazquez and Cicely Tyson also star. The movie, which comes from Amazon and Lionsgate, is set to hit select theaters on Nov. 3. In the meantime, see some of the other exciting movie trailers that have been released so far this month.