B-o-r-i-n-g! That’s with a capitol ‘B!’ I love history (especially WWII), Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns, and his movies generally speaking, but Flags of Our Fathers was (nearly) un-watchable! And this coming from a guy, who the night before had watched four straight hours of the history channel!

What made the fim so boring was a combination of little or no character development, poor story telling, and really, the story that was told wasn’t that interesting; or it at least wasn’t exciting. Significant yes, exciting no.

The movie focused extensively on Ira Hayes, even though the story was told from the perspective of the son of the supposedly  main character. It was as if the son was re-telling a story about Ira from the perspective of his father; very twisted and incomplete. This is because… that’s what it was. Needless to say, this circuitous means of story telling left this history lover wanting… If you're going to make the story about Ira Hayes, great! But they didn't even play the Johnny Cash song, 'Ira Hayes.' That song conveys at least as much if not more information than this long (10 hours?), boring movie.

The most interesting aspect of the evening was the demographic of the audience as it was largley comprised of senior citizens. I can’t recall ever seeing such a crowd other than at the early-bird special at Denny’s. The members of the ‘Greatest Generation’ were no doubt coming to relive a part of their life, and remember those that were lost during that epic conflict. It was this compulsion on their part to be here that I found most intriguing about the film.

I tended to watch these people watching the movie as much as I watched the movie. I was curious to see their reactions to various aspects of the movie and tried to imagine what they were thinking. The older ladies tended to flinch and cover their faces during every attack or violent scene. The mem tended to stare stoically ahead, absorbing every boring detail. At least one guy wore a Us flag patch on the shoulder of his  jacket. Proud then; proud today. I doubt that anything John Kerry says about anything matter’s a lick to these guys.

Immediately following the movie the gentleman seated to my right said to his wife in a somewhat indignant tone, ‘What? No applause? That’s it? Nothing?’ The people who came to see this movie, likely the only movie that they’ve gone to see on a Friday night the past 20 years, stayed until the final credit stopped rolling. I was more than a little surprised that their wait wasn’t rewarded with some recognition by Clint Eastwood of the sacrifices that were made by the millions who fought and of those who never made it home. Only today, can a war movie be made without honoring the war or the warriors who fought it.

As I sit here writing this, I’m thinking that I missed my chance to thank that gentleman sitting two seats from me... So, next time you’re at your work, look around for these ‘seasoned citizens’ as Rush calls them. Chances are there’s a hero right in front of you, day-in, day-out, who wouldn’t mind a little 'applause.'