In Country (1989)

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers (WGA):

Bobbie Ann Mason (novel)
Frank Pierson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of an American family.

Plot:

Samantha Hughes, a teenaged Kentucky girl, never knew her father, who died in Vietnam before her birth...

Plot Keywords:

Vietnam | Memorial | Vietnam Veteran | Vulgarity | Washington D.C.

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bruce Willis	...	Emmett Smith
Emily Lloyd	...	Samantha Hughes
Joan Allen	...	Irene
Kevin Anderson	...	Lonnie
John Terry	...	Tom
Peggy Rea	...	Mamaw
Judith Ivey	...	Anita
Daniel Jenkins	...	Dwayne
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Pete
Jim Beaver	...	Earl Smith
Richard Hamilton	...	Grampaw
Heidi Swedberg	...	Dawn
Ken Jenkins	...	Jim Holly
Jonathan Hogan	...	Larry
Patricia Richardson	...	Cindy

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Ken Jenkins, who plays "Jim Holly" (the organizer of the veteran's dance), is the father of Daniel Jenkins who plays Sam's father in the Vietnam flashbacks. Their casting in the film was purely coincidental.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bench: Life Before 'Seinfeld' (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Honky Tonk Man

Sam graduates from high school in Kentucky, then tries to find out who her father was.

"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.