Search - Coming Home on DVD

A solid effort--but it just misses its mark...

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 06/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Coming Home is a sensitive portrayal of three people and how their lives were changed by the war in Vietnam. Look for wonderful acting by Jane Fonda who had to contend with a script that was not exactly the best I've ever seen; and Jon Voight does an excellent job playing the role of Luke Martin, a Vietnam vet who was badly wounded in combat. Bruce Dern plays Capt. Bob Hyde with a lot of style; all the actors do their best in this film. The script fails to flesh out the depth of the characters and the movie held my attention although there were some slow moments along the way.



When the action begins, we meet Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda) and her soon to go to war Marine husband Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern). We also soon meet Sally's friend Vi Munson who is ably portrayed by Penelope Milford. Bob is eager to go to war and fight (and kill) for his country but Sally's much more realistically concerned about her husband being in combat. After Bob does go off to war, Sally and Vi form a friendship bond that is sweet and touching. Vi's brother Bill Munson (Robert Carradine) is psychiatrically disabled in a veteran hospital; so when Vi goes to volunteer there Sally decides to volunteer as well. Sally wants to deal with true issues about the war but the other women volunteers won't have any of it; and slowly but surely Sally begins to doubt that the war is absolutely necessary and good.



At the same time, Sally meets an old school pal named Luke Martin (Jon Voight). Luke himself is very injured following his being wounded in combat during the war and Luke is certainly cynical and haunted by guilt to say the least. Luke and Sally also form a friendship and this eventually leads to a love affair that is rather poignant and well done in the movie.



Of course, the plot could go anywhere from here. Will Sally want to leave her husband Bob when he returns from war and live with Luke instead? How will Vi handle life after her brother Bill kills himself in the hospital? What about Bob's injury--just how did he REALLY get wounded? In addition, when Bob is away Sally works (which Bob doesn't like) and she becomes more anti-war than ever before. How will Bob handle this change in his wife? No plot spoilers here, folks--watch the movie and find out!



There are a few DVD extras; the optional running commentary was very good.



Overall, Coming Home is a very good but not truly great story of how lives were drastically changed because of the war in Vietnam. I recommend this for people who like this type of theme and people studying the Vietnam War would do well to get this movie. However, the script falls short of my expectations and the actors are indeed left to make the best of a lukewarm situation. The acting is truly better than the script!

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