Sounds like your basic TV movie, sunk by noble intentions. But here well meaning translates into well done.
In Country (1989)
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:16
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.3/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: "In Country" is both an exploration of post-war syndrome and a coming-of-age film. Emmett Smith, a Vietnam Veteran cannot free himself of the nightmare he lived overseas; he lives with his niece,... "In Country" is both an exploration of post-war syndrome and a coming-of-age film. Emmett Smith, a Vietnam Veteran cannot free himself of the nightmare he lived overseas; he lives with his niece, Samantha Hughes a recent high-school graduate, in a rundown old shack in the hills of Kentucky. Emmett's emotional scars run so deep that neither he nor his veteran buddies can escape from the past. As a result, he allows Samantha to lead a rather reckless life. She too is touched by the war: her father was killed before she was born and her mother has built a new and separate life for herself. Samantha's progression into adulthood begins as she learns the truth about her parents' relationship and the atrocities her father may have committed during the war. [More]
Starring: Bruce Willis, Emily Lloyd, Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Emily Lloyd, Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson, Richard Hamilton, Judith Ivey, Peggy Rea, John Terry
Director: Norman Jewison
Director: Norman Jewison
Composer: James Horner
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Reviews for In Country
Lloyd, though technically adept, doesn't really get under her conflicted character's skin; the supporting actors (including Willis) are the film's greatest strength.
Norman Jewison usually is a commanding storyteller, but In Country is a film with two stories that fail to add up to something greater.
Jewison's post-Vietnam movie concentrates on bereavement, with the consequence that it's decent but dull.
A profoundly moving tearjerker about the festering wounds caused by the Vietnam War in middle America. A young Emily Lloyd is absolutely wonderful.
An overlooked and underrated drama with Willis giving one of his finest performances.
A powerful drama about one American family's attempt to release the grief and pain caused by the Vietnam war
Jewison manages to save up all the emotion for the charged conclusion at the Vietnam memorial in Washington, but it's a case of too little, too late.
In Country means to capture the deep tragedy at the center of pedestrian lives. Instead, it becomes a pedestrian film.
With uncanny skill, Willis finds the frightened kid hiding behind Emmett's detached stare. He gives a dynamite performance, both touching and haunting.
Like the Memorial itself, the film brings not so much understanding for the war veteran as a tribute to the veteran. That is not so ambitious a goal, but it is sufficient.
Though Bruce Willis has top billing as a troubled Vietnam veteran, British whizbang Emily Lloyd virtually squeezes him off the screen as his live-in niece, whose soldier father died before she was born.
The movie is like a time bomb. You sit there, interested, absorbed, sometimes amused, sometimes moved, but wondering in the back of your mind what all of this is going to add up to. Then you find out.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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