Un héros comme tant d'autres

"In Country" is what soldiers called being in Viet Nam during the war, thus the title of this 1989 film. Emily Lloyd, an 18-year-old English actress credibly plays Sam (Samantha) who is being raised by her uncle (Bruce Willis) while her mother (Jane Allen) lives elsewhere in Kentucky. Sam wonders about her father, who was killed in Viet Nam right before she was born. She found old letters of his to her mom, and this sparks her interest in finding out more about him. The film ends when she finds his name in D.C. at the memorial.

I was drafted in 1968, and only a medical disqualification kept me out of Viet Nam. I'm certain that some of my college buddies, and ROTC mates, went and never returned. For us who remember those times this is an especially meaningful film. It is slow moving in many places, but well-done and perhaps deserving of a bit higher rating on the IMDb.

This is one of the many older movies now being released as budget DVDs. It sold for under $6. It is very basic, no extras, no surround sound. Still, the picture is very true, in fullscreen, and the sound is above average. Includes some good Bruce Springsteen.

A 17 year-old girl from western Kentucky (Emily Lloyd) lives with her Vietnam vet uncle (Bruce Willis) while dating a couple of guys (Kevin Anderson & John Terry). She seeks to know more about her father who died in the war when she was in the womb. Joan Allen plays her mother who lives in Lexington while Judith Ivey is on hand as a nurse semi-involved with the uncle.

"In Country" was one of three PTSD Vietnam flicks released in 1989, which also include "Jacknife" and "Born on the 4th of July." "Jacknife" is my favorite while "Born on the 4th of July" is harrowing in its portrayal of the ugly, awful truth. This one takes the understated route and is therefore the most obscure. It's a slice-of-life drama about coming-of-age for the teen and learning of her heritage, but also about vets coming to terms with their time in Vietnam and finding healing.

It's muted yet successfully brings you into the small town world of middle America. You gotta respect a movie that refuses to exaggerate. I watched it right after the death of a precious loved one and it was just what I needed. There are gems to mine.

The film runs 1 hour and 54 minutes and was mostly shot in the Mayfield area of western Kentucky.

GRADE: B-/C+

This film introduces familiar characters and develops them as examples of how losing someone to Vietnam (even if they came home) changed the lives of much of our country. The characters are not "important" figures and the film's impact is greater for displaying how common were those experiences. Bruce Willis' acting is superb and John Terry's character may be the most haunting.

A lot of the criticism against this movie comes from the fact that it didn't follow the book as accurately as it could have. But since I haven't read the book, that's not an issue for me. I didn't have to sit there and say "Hey! That's not how it happened!"

This movie caught me by surprise. The only reason I saw it was because I happened to be channel-surfing and I noticed Bruce Willis with a weird mustache. The movie was just starting, so I settled in to watch the whole thing. This says a lot about the kind of recognizability Bruce Willis has earned in the years since he made this movie.

In all I was very impressed with his performance as Emmett. And while Emily Lloyd was a bit on the annoying side, the role she played was portrayed beautifully (which I guess was the whole point).

Being a Canadian, the Vietnam War doesn't hold as much meaning to me as it does to Americans. But this movie went a long way towards showing me how someone who was affected by the Vietnam War dealt with the repercussions. While the movie did develop very slowly and seemed to drag on at times, it was wonderfully refreshing and touching.

I love this compelling drama of self-discovery, partly because I was an extra in it as a nine-month-old baby on holiday in New York with my parents!!! (I'm afraid I was on the cutting room floor this time, but watch out for a flash of red hair in the soldier's graves scene and tell me if you do!!!). English rose Emily Lloyd (known to all you 'Only Fools and Horses' fans as the daughter of Roger Lloyd Pack, who played Trigger) convincingly portrays a young American woman attempting to discover the father she never really knew. Bruce Willis does a real turnaround from the characters we are used to seeing him play, as Lloyd's rather crazy uncle Emmet. I'm not a patriotic person, especially since I'm from Northern Ireland and not the U.S., but the stories of the forgotten men who made the ultimate sacrifice for a cause which in the end was not worth it, is still tragic and heart-wrenching for me. A real human story.