Truth is war's first casualty. Heroism is a relative concept. These two lessons are taught early and often in Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood's literal-minded adaptation of James Bradley's book about the iconic photo of six soldiers raising the Stars-and-Stripes during World War II's battle of Iwo Jima.

Eastwood's strength as an actor's director is in evidence as he shepherds his young male ensemble through a sulfurous minefield. But there's not enough thematic elaboration, the framing structure and requisite transitions are clumsy, and the gore quotient is higher than necessary. Viewers stand a greater chance of learning something they don't already know when Eastwood's companion film depicting the battle from the Japanese perspective is released next year.

Striking a balance between saluting the Greatest Generation (and fighting men and women in general) and showing the horrible absurdities of war is not only politic, it's true-to-life. Eastwood and screenwriters William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis don't put a negative or positive gloss on events; they go out of their way to remain neutral. The absence of a definable cinematic style goes hand in hand with a reluctance to say anything daring or controversial.

How the image was exploited for propaganda purposes is a key theme. For instance, Old Glory was implanted on day five of the thirty-five day battle on the Japanese island, with victory far from certain. Much of the film is taken up with showing how three of the six soldiers who survived the battle went on tour promoting bonds to finance the war effort and how this took a personal toll. There's also plenty of skepticism concerning how the military brass made decisions not in the best interests of frontline soldiers. The unwieldy narrative technique employed by Eastwood and company dilutes these points unfortunately.

While the battle scenes themselves are harrowing, especially the landing sequence, they are interrupted by flash-forwards to the stateside aftermath -- to scenes of the families of fallen soldiers, of the three "heroes" shilling war bonds, and to unidentified elderly survivors being interviewed for the source book. The clunky structure and poorly executed transitions undercut the momentum. Since it's hard to keep track of who's who, we're forced to conclude either the soldiers are interchangeable or each man's experience can be encompassed by the same truisms.

Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, and Adam Beach give stalwart performances as Navy corpsman John "Doc" Bradley, combat-wary, image-conscious Marine "runner" Rene Gagnon, and Native American marine Ira Hayes. The fates of two of these men aren't spectacular, at least in comparison to their service or how it was perceived, which may be why Eastwood feels he can sentimentalize the sad fate of the third.

As to the prevalence of blood and guts on the battlefield, you can argue that violence is most appropriate in a war movie. Yet the people who really need to see the savage reality are those who can't attend the R-rated film unaccompanied by an adult. The adolescents who will become fodder in the next war and who'll make decisions about making war in the future are the ones who would benefit the most from being sensitized.

Another issue concerning the severed heads and spilled intestines arises because we don't always know whose they are; we don't get a chance to become attached to any of the soldiers who didn't come home and whose stories aren't told in full. This feeds into the movie's point about battlefield bravery. Heroes can only be identified in context, and it shouldn't be left to distant generals and politicians to sort out who displayed exceptional bravery on the battlefield. The challenge is to find the middle ground between labeling everyone who fought a hero and ensuring the real heroes don't go unrecognized. Even in conflicts as morally clear-cut as both theaters of World War II, it's not easy.

Flags of Our Fathers has a topicality given Iraq (as it would during any war), but that doesn't make it a timeless masterpiece. Just as genuine heroism doesn't guarantee appropriate accolades, important subject matter doesn't guarantee a four-star movie. 

(Released by DreamWorks SKG and rated "R" for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and language.)