MovieChat Forums > Coming Home (1978) Discussion > In retrospect

In retrospect

posted 20 years ago by dgave
24 replies | jump to latest

I remember not thinking a whole lot of this movie when it came out in 1978. I've watched it recently on cable and now, 25 years later, I think even less of it -- I thoroughly dislike it. This movie tries to make something noble out of what was nothing more than the wife's (Jane Fonda) cheap affair and callous betrayal of a husband who was in harm's way on the other side of the globe. When the husband (Bruce Dern) returns home to find his life in shambles he says, "I don't belong in this house and I don't belong over there (Viet Nam). The reason he doesn't "belong in this house" is because she made him not belong there. His suicide (which presumably would clear the way for her to go back to her lover) is too convenient and lets her off the hook too easily. It puts the movie on a level with something from the Lifetime Movie Network or a bad '40s melodrama. The song that plays over the suicide scene at the end, "Will You Remember Me?" ("Once I was a soldier, I fought on foreign sands for you/Once I was a hunter, I brought home fresh meat for you....") is ironic. She forgot about him easily enough when he was alive and overseas; why would she remember him when he's conveniently dead?

[–] mstytz 17 years ago

Totally agree, this movie is a waste of film. The Jane Fonda in the film pretty accurately reflects the Jane Fonda of Hanoi we have all come to know and love so well. She's all about the easy, self-centered way. Dern was better off without her.

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

That is not a review of the film, its just an opinion of a person you do not like.

The film is rather tame in retrospect as it was made soon after Vietnam ended. Its a drama based on aspects of people affected by the Vietnam war and in this case put the injured vets centre stage and was more anti-war which was controversial at the time. It does contain good performances, even from Voight who has done an 180 degree turn and now become a Neo-Con.

Its that man again!!

[–] Owlwise 9 years ago

Fascinating that so many commenters have a bigger problem with adultery than with the horrors of a needless war. Jane Fonda's character is like a lot of American women of her time: raised to be loyal, supportive, and basically living for their husbands. There were a lot of marriages based on that dynamic back then, a dynamic that assumed people wouldn't (or even shouldn't) change & grow, or become their own persons. The film doesn't pretend that this doesn't hurt others -- it hurts Jane Fonda's character too -- but it's an honest depiction of just how much the world changed in a decade.

And Jon Voight's character went to war just as gung-ho as Bruce Dern's, having accepted the belief both were raised with: obedience to authority, America is always right, and all the rest of it. Voight's character experienced tragedy & growth; Dern's character was lost, which itself is a tragedy. To reduce the film & its complex social & emotional issues to a rote condemnation of a brief sexual affair is to miss the entire film completely.

[–] wheelersmith 8 years ago

The song from the film is "Once I Was," by Tim Buckley. Nothing ironic at all, in retrospect.

"Will You Remember Me?" is most likely the song "I Will Remember You," by Sarah McLachlan. It was first featured in the movie "The Brothers McMullen," which is very different from "Coming Home."

[–] Tommen_Forever 8 years ago

Based on this thread, it seems there are two types of people who dislike this film; prowar Republicans and people who think wives should stick by their husbands even if their husbands are asshóles (Sally didn't cheat on Bob until he drove her away, and she broke it off when he came home).

Honestly, Sally should have kicked Bob to the curb long before she met Luke. Bob treated her like a second-class citizen.

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[–] melholden (96) 5 years ago

He doesn't 'belong' because, and he said this, he wanted to be a hero, that's what mattered to him, not her, not anything else. Then he accidentally shoots himself on the way to the bathroom and gets sent home now a military hero, and he knows now all that 'hero' stuff is mostly crap. His whole foundation crumbles. Even if she hadn't met Voigt's character, I think Dern's character was ready to end things.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Bob had too much invested in the war and being a hero. He wasn't a good husband or person.