Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

  Mother's Day was just last week but Father's Day is coming up and this is one of the most Dad Movies ever made.  Content Warning:  war violence, suicide, animal death (horse (shown), dog (off-screen but audible))

The small island of Iwo Jima becomes the last bastion of defense between the encroaching American forces and the Japanese homeland.  Under the command of General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), Imperial forces dig in, fortifying the island's defenses.  But as the battle approaches inevitability, the lack of resources and support turns a valiant effort into a suicide mission.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of WWII or a passing familiarity with U.S. Marines knows what happened at Iwo Jima.  So the whole movie felt like a foregone conclusion, which was super depressing.  

Clint Eastwood directed this as a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, which tells the story from the U.S. side.  It's an interesting idea but I just couldn't get into it.  The cinematography is washed out and hazy and I found the CGI distracting.  The performances are fine, the script is fine, I even thought the framing narrative was fine.  It's a perfectly serviceable war film.  Just wasn't for me.  It's streaming on Tubi.