Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

Memorable, crazy movie

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I did not grow up in the Vietnam era, and instead, my education on the subject has been limited to the last week of history class when the teacher would throw in a couple of words about Vietnam, usually being content to proclaim that the war was an ugly loss that we should all just forget.I think that is a serious threat these days--people forget, and others like in my generation just don't have a clue, as to what went through these soldiers. This film does a fine job of relaying that. We feel the pain of Emmett who has had to suppress his feelings about Vietnam. We see how the wounds of war are not only skin deep and battlefield-limited: they are the scars that are carried within.Equally refreshing is the point-of-view of the unsung hero, the survivors. In this case the we see the war's impact on Sam, whose father died before she was born. 18 years after his death, in present day (1989), the audience is allowed to see the remaining impressions that a war leaves, and the difficulty of finding closure in a war that everyone wanted to forget.This is a film that ought to be seen because it depicts war from so many new points of view and in a way that is relatable to those of us who will never be able to comprehend the actual battlefield. See it, you won't regret it.

I had trouble establishing any meaningful connection to the characters in this film, presumably because of a lack of connection to those who fought (and lived or died) in Vietnam. The story here is primarily that of Samantha Hughes (a flamboyant and somewhat over-confident young woman played well by Emily Lloyd) and her jaded (or hardened?) uncle, Emmett Smith (Bruce Willis). This movie, to some extent, reminded me of the uneasy relationship between Randy Quaid and Ilan-Mitchell Smith's characters in "The Wild Life" where Smith's character misunderstood the war and idolized his veteran buddy (played by Randy Quaid) who apparently desperately wanted to forget it. Emily Lloyd's character is not quite as naive, but in reminiscing about her late father, wondering what kind of soldier he was, she does display a certain degree of similar tendencies. The ending of the film, on the other hand, is more like a slight tribute to those who died as the family visit the Vietnam memorial (the events in this movie are somewhat non-linear and scattered).Not an overall bad movie, but not a great one either simply for lack of a clear story and probably, not such great development of characters (though I do commend Lloyd's performance).

Saw this movie in a sociology class. Very poor, just relentlessly boring and melodramatic. The director should and could have had the girl's role more sexy, and included more details about the static characters. The flashbacks and the girl's search for identity were both so cheesy that the only people i could see getting a reaction out of are the people featured in the movie. Bruce Willis was pretty good considering the bad writing he had to deal with, but that goes without saying despite any of his roles. The girl ws not a very intersting dynamic character, and either needed to express her thoughts about what was going on around her or get naked to make her interesting. I will say that the country lifestyle was pretty realistically portrayed, but it was hard to believe that there were this many vets 20 years after the war still hopping up in trees from lighting because they thought the V.C was coming. Not worth watching; there are so many other movies in the Vietnam genre that were better that this movie just has no role.

This is one of the most overlooked film of the 90s. Ok the original novel by Bobbie Ann Mason was better but the direction (the foreign view on the Vietnam war was an very interesting aspect for me to watch the film) of Norman Jewison was as well as the entire cast. Many critics have asked why the leading role wasn't played by Winona Ryder. Ok Winona Ryder may be a better actress and much more successful but Emily Lloyd is also a good actress and she did a very good work (the second best after Wish You Were Here). Bruce was never better than in this film. His apathetic and depressive Vietnam vet was very convincing.