In Country

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.

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.

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,

Although this movie isn't well known - I happened on it by accident one day.

I must say that I was very pleased with the whole thing. The character Bruce plays is one for my generation. We lost a lot of fine young men and women in the Viet Nam War and Bruce as Emmett was so real.

It's a different kind of movie for Willis but it shows his true talent and emotional commitment to this character that I found solid. This movie is a have-to if you enjoy Bruce Willis.

Anyone can do a loud, shoot them up movie but it takes real talent to bring to life a sensitive and emotional person to life. The raw, bleeding memories that he shows is so real you'd think Bruce really saw action IN COUNTRY.

See this movie!!!!

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