In Country

Emily Lloyd plays a young woman searching for her father, who was killed in Vietnam. Bruce Willis plays her Uncle, also a vet, who is coping with the fact that he made it out alive while his brother did not.

Very well done with superb acting by Willis in his finest role and by Lloyd who plays her part brilliantly. Underrated as a film, is very much worth the time.. Concludes with a very touching and emotional scene at the Vietnam Memorial

8 of 10

"In Country" is a film that, to me, gets better with each viewing. Bruce Willis' portrayal of Emmett, a troubled Vietnam veteran, seemed right on; and if he's done any better pure acting, I'm not aware of it. I strongly disagree with a couple of the negative comments on Emily Lloyd's performance in the film. I thought she was quite outstanding as Emmett's inquisitive niece, Samantha, who was searching for answers about her father who had died in Vietnam. As for why monotonic Winona Ryder wasn't selected for the role of Samantha (as mentioned in a prior comment) now that WOULD have been a drab, annoying performance as far as I'm concerned. There were also fine supporting performances from Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson, etc.

While many of the comments here have voiced distaste for Emily Lloyd's performance, I've found it , along with the Grandmother, to be very true to Appalachia...I taught many, many students who talked like Sam, and had her personality traits.

The people of Appalachia built this country by working the coal mines and steel mills, and in a very real sense never benefited in the wealth they helped create. In Country brings this out, by telling the story of of some of these people. During the Vietnam War, the press many times focused on either the heroic volunteer, or soldiers from our city ghettos, and left out the stories of the many men from rural areas who made sacrifices.

After having the film on Laserdisc for some time now, I recently saw it priced on DVD for $6.00. It IS an underrated film, and I challenge anyone not to choke up in the final scenes at the Vietnam War Memorial,

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+

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.