Synopsis:
Alan Arkin, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2007 for his role as the crusty old grandpa in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, stars as another crusty character in RAISING FLAGG, a comedy directed by...
Alan Arkin, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2007 for his role as the crusty old grandpa in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, stars as another crusty character in RAISING FLAGG, a comedy directed by Neal Miller and written by Miller, his wife, Nancy, and Dorothy Velasco. Arkin plays Flagg Purdy, a handyman living in a small Oregon town with his wife, Ada (Barbara Dana, Arkin's real-life ex-wife), and their daughter Jenny (Stephanie Lemelin). All of their other children have grown up and moved away--as far from their father as possible. When Flagg gets into a heated dispute with his neighbor, Gus Falk (Austin Pendleton), over sheep messing with Flagg's water supply, the two end up in court, where Flagg triumphs by a technicality while losing favor with the community. With everyone against him, he collapses into bed, sure he is going to die. Soon his crazy family--including radio talk show host Ann Marie (Glenne Headly), real estate agent Rachel (Lauren Holly), and traveling minister Travis (Matthew Arkin, Alan's real-life son and Dana's stepson)--is gathered around him, causing more and more trouble and reopening old wounds. Based on the short story "Don't Cry for Me" by John D. Weaver, RAISING FLAGG is a follow-up (though not a sequel) to 1984's A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE, in which Arkin and Dana also played Flagg and Ada in a movie based on a Weaver story with a screenplay by Neal and Nancy Miller. In RAISING FLAGG, Arkin is a riot as Flagg, who refuses to bend in any direction, insisting he is always right and always treated unfairly despite all the evidence to the contrary. Neal Miller carefully carves out each member of the Purdy family, giving each one a unique relationship with the troubled father.
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