Coming Home

Lacks cohesiveness, often feeling like a series of somewhat connected scenes. But wow, they're some amazing scenes. The finale of course, but a lot of the ones in between as well. Those scenes alone are well worth watching the film for. Still, the disjointedness bothers me. The central relationship never felt fully genuine and the soundtrack is as distracting as it is great. Instead of tying scenes together this splits them apart, confining all the emotions and taking away from a bigger picture.

Very fine acting, especially by Jane Fonda. The rippling soundtrack reflects the ambition of the story, which is solid but not too captivating beyond the antiwar message.

I kept changing my mind about this film, firstly thinking it was rather good, then great, then not-so-good, then great again, then fairly good at the end -- goes to show it takes you on quite the emotional journey. Nice to see a film that identifies with the physical and mental torments of the Vietnam vets, though does lose this a bit when it focuses more on the romance, before refocusing on it towards the very ambiguous and unclear ending. Song choices were rather common, though

Quite good film about a neglected subject at the time--what happens when veterans come home and their lovers.

A war film that doesn't fall into tropes, even with the typical post-'Nam attitudes. What happened to Voight? I feel like there was some plot development missing since Dern went 0-100 in being unlikeable while Fonda seemed to fall for Voight too quickly even though you'd have expected that of Milford. Still nice to see a focus on the spouses left behind. Fav scene: Dern lashing out ("what I'm saying IIISSS I don't belong in this house" with a bayonet and Voight just understanding.

This one's a real slow burner. I really dig Vietnam-era war films, but Coming Home just doesn't resonate very powerfully. Nothing stands out much here. Bonus points to Ashby for framing the movie with "Out of Time" by the Stones.

At first I was almost determined to find its faults in the area of sentimentality, but by the final moments of the film, I was totally moved by it all. Good performances from Hanoi Jane, Angelina Jolie's dad and, of course, Bruce fuckin Dern.

A fine story about the downside of the war. Well performances on the whole cast and directing. The end speech was a bit naive and oldish for modern days.

Ashby's incredible streak of great films in the 70's has ended with this mediocre anti-war movie. He's still a great storyteller, and all of the actors perform well enough to keep us engaged in the story, but it's just ain't good enough. The bland use of 60's hits (Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Jefferson Airplane etc.) on the soundtrack doesn't work very well either.

bruce dern can't eat pussy for shit

Excellent performances, and an important movie about wounded soldiers returning from Viet Nam.

Rather less affecting than one would hope

It feels like Coming Home can't decide what kind of movie it wants to be... anti-war? Personal drama? Examination on marriage? It's not poorly made and the actors do a fine job, I just don't think everything comes together very well.

78.500

"Coming Home" is a little preachy, but I think it did a good job telling an engaging story. I liked the use of rock music in the soundtrack every though sometimes it was a little overpowering.

Well-judged anti-war movie with quite formidable acting.

Very powerful and moving film. Ashby did something really interesting with the music with this one as well. The way he blends diegetic and non-diegetic music was perfect, it didn't hurt that the soundtrack was good (but what you would expect). The acting is all great and Voight's speech at the end is particularly memorable. Good film.

Good film.

The right movie at the right time, but a bit too lightweight for the subject matter. This could have made the characters more interesting so we'd feel more of what they felt.

78.250

This film really bites off a lot of themes, some of which are handled much better than others. Fonda and Voight are both really extraordinary, and their relationship is handled with subtlety and nuance. Fonda says in the film that she's "become a different person", but you can clearly see that she hasn't really. It's more like she's become a fully realized version of the person she always was once she's given the opportunity to be more than just Dern's wife.

Pretty good material all around, and I do agree with its politics. Still, it could have been better if it weren't so didactic, and while the characterization is generally very humanizing, the husband is at least a little bit of a caricature. I found my mind drifting to Fassbinder's Marriage of Maria Braun, which has a somewhat similar premise but seems a bit bolder.

Anti-Vietnam 1978 drama combining tasteful cheating romance and obvious political leanings with a very appropiate rockish 60-70s soundtrack plus -SPOILER- a rallying, crass antiwar speech tagged at the end coupled with a veteran's suicide. Incredibly cynical, but well done Oscar bait.

Ashby's movies haven't aged well, and that's because under his obvious politics and the attempted everyday grunge a worn sentimentality hides, out to get you from the very start.

With Hal Ashby's most melodramatic outing, Coming Home is that "other" Vietnam film of 1978 that was far less shouty. Praise for focusing on the war's impact on home life and for a trio of performances that are absolutely top notch. Dern's struggle through the final few scenes is quite heartbreaking, which is a feat as he was clearly made into an unlikable character for the majority of the film.