Flag Day

Wrenching family drama is expertly handled by Penn who has found his forte in making 1970s-style studies of conflict. Based on a non-fiction memoir, Dylan Penn, in a compelling performance, is the daughter of perennial liar and conman Sean Penn. Early on, he is shown being sent to prison for robbery, before the movie flashes back to show he has never changed from being a schemer, unreliable and unsuited to be a decent father. No wonder the girl grows to be a wayward teen, but surprising she straightens up, even becoming a college graduate. Always hanging over her life is her father, whose every return promises hope of reunion, which is inevitably destroyed by his troubled personality. Heartbreaking cinema at its best.