Clint Eastwood is much a better director than one would like to accept, but he tends to direct pretty dull films. It might be me, but none of the Eastwood-films are too enlighting experiences, although beautiful and usually well-done in and out. Flags of our Fathers is no expection.
Clint uses always a great cast and crew to produce his vision a super-high quality. He's not a master of big surprises, but he knows well how to tell a astory. Flags of our Fathers tells a story about the guys who raised the legendary flag in Iwo Jima, after a glorious fight - or at least most of them did. It's a story of heroes, and the dilemma of heroes - are there heroes, and if so, what makes a person a hero.
Flags has some wonderful scenes, but it suffers this time from pretty lousy acting on few fronts, as well as pretty dull story. All the mise-en-scene, props and sets are wonderful and beautifully shot, but the only interesting person in the film - an Indian alcoholic soldier, played by Adam Beach, is sloppishly acted and although he would be the key to the moral of the story, viewer doesn't care enough to get inside his head.
Other than that, the film has little to complain, just wish it would've been more interesting and a bit more outrageous.