Coming Home

Genre: war drama
Director: Hal Ashby
Release: 1978
Studio: Jerome Hellman Prodns et al. - United Artists
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.6/10


Echoes Of Gunfire And Souls Laid To Waste


California, 1968. After Captain Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern) leaves for Vietnam, his wife Sally (Jane Fonda) feels lonely and useless. To fill the void, she decides to volunteer as a nurse at the local military hospital, where she meets Luke (Jon Voigt), an old school acquaintance. Luke, now condemned to a wheelchair, will challenge Sally's take on life, war and patriotism.

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When the opening credits for COMING HOME roll on screen in playful lettering, you may expect a light and amiable film unconcerned with its heavy subject matter but it will soon strike you as a serious, intimate and realistic portrait of frustrated war veterans and the ravages, both physical and psychological, that were inflicted on them and their loved ones by an absurd and gruesome war. The three main characters – and the supporting cast around them – all struggle with insecurity in one form or another and, as such, feel very human and compelling in their quest for peace of mind and deeper meaning. All actors involved deliver fine performances: Jane F. is brave and very sexy in her Oscar-winning turn as Sally, Bruce D. effectively plays an ambivalent and idealistic soldier-cum-husband while Jon V. is solid throughout and especially touching in an eloquent, power-packed scene near the end of the movie (he also garnered an Oscar here – a rare acting double in Academy history). The script is nuanced and logical, aided by natural, flowing dialogues, and the soundtrack reflects the era convincingly.

And when those closing credits roll, I guarantee, the film’s impact will linger, its nobility also and, most of all, its crucial focus on militancy instead of militarism. What more can I say? That COMING HOME is still vibrant thirty years after its release and, of course, that it was made in the legendary 70s, the last golden era of American cinema. If only those boys who dream of fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever could see it before leaving…


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