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The War at Home (1996)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 15
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 6

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,489

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Movie Info

Jeremy Collier (Emilio Estevez) is the army veteran who returns home after his harrowing experiences in battle. His father Bob (Martin Sheen) is the emotionally detached parent who insists Jeremy put his unpleasant memories behind him and get on with his life. His mother (Kathy Bates) is the unusually cheerful woman who pretends nothing is wrong. The troubled Jeremy finds almost as much fighting at home as he did in the military in this powerful drama of a young veteran's adjustment to civilian life. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

R, 1 hr. 59 min.

Drama

Directed By: Emilio Estevez

Written By: James Duff

In Theaters: Nov 22, 1996 Wide

On DVD: Sep 3, 2002

Cast

Kathy Bates
Maurine Collier
Martin Sheen
Bob Collier
Kimberly Williams
Karen Collier
Emilio Estevez
Jeremy Collier
Carla Gugino
Melissa
Geoffrey Blake
David
Ann Hearn
Prof. Tracey
Corin Nemec
Donald
Lane Smith
Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Marcus H. Nelson
Michael Wiseman

Critic Reviews for The War at Home

All Critics (17) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (6) | DVD (2)

The film is so beautifully acted that you barely notice the staginess of some of the speeches.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Stephen Holden

New York Times

Top Critic

A confident, straight-ahead no-nonsense movie that delivers its message relentlessly with maximum impact.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

Full of little acting moments that feel like ACK-ting moments.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Bates is excellent, and Sheen's performance marks a high point in the actor's wayward career.

February 4, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

It's never anything more than middlebrow, obvious and quite laboured -- and, for good and ill, very earnest.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

In one dramatic moment, an upset Bates yells at and slaps Estevez, and suddenly Sheen brings up the subject of stolen peanut brittle.

September 14, 2005 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Excellent performances from the Sheen clan

April 25, 2005 Comment

Clint Morris

Moviehole

Shows the explosions generated by the Vietnam War after soldiers left the battlefields.

August 26, 2002 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

It's undoubtedly one of the most riveting portrayals of Vietnam's impact on the American family since Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

| Comment

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The War at Home

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kinda uncomfortable but i couldn't look away. some Great scenes with Emilio and Martin. each family character has real feelings. moving. almost (but somehow not) too dramatic ending

June 2, 2006

Mary G.

Super Reviewer

A Great Peace of Drama / Dark Comedy Mixture it shows at the one Hand who sick & twisted are Upper Middle Class Familys under the fitted Cloak of Wealth and Peace, that many Patriarchs like Fascist Dictators and how egoistic a Man can be he send his own Son into Hell just to not blame himself and when it gives

July 31, 2009