Flag Day

Sean Penn and his daughter Dylan impress in the lead roles in this grim true-life drama, based on Jennifer Vogel's 2001 book about her uneasy relationship with her conman father. John Vogel's doomed schemes and self-destructive nature tears his family apart, with young Jennifer seemingly trapped in a cycle of giving dad numerous last chances to mend his ways. The elder Penn, who also directs, is fantastic in the heart-wrenching scenes he shares with his equally engaging daughter. However, the film is frustratingly snapshot and episodic, as if catering to an audience already familiar with the source material and able to fill in the gaps. On the plus side, the washed-out and often grainy film quality adds to the sense of desperate people on the fringes of society, and the film benefits from a sympathetic soundtrack that includes new material by singer-songwriter Cat Power.