Coming Home (1978)

A woman whose husband is fighting in Vietnam falls in love with another man who suffered a paralyzing combat injury there.

Director:

Hal Ashby

Writers:

Waldo Salt (screenplay), Robert C. Jones (screenplay),

Stars:

Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern

Won 3 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jane Fonda	...	Sally Hyde
Jon Voight	...	Luke Martin
Bruce Dern	...	Capt. Bob Hyde
Penelope Milford	...	Vi Munson
Robert Carradine	...	Bill Munson
Robert Ginty	...	Sgt. Dink Mobley
Mary Gregory	...	Martha Vickery
Kathleen Miller	...	Kathy Delise
Beeson Carroll	...	Capt. Earl Delise
Willie Tyler	...	Virgil
Louis Carello	...	Bozo (as Lou Carello)
Charles Cyphers	...	Pee Wee
Olivia Cole	...	Corrine
Tresa Hughes	...	Nurse Degroot
Bruce French	...	Dr. Lincoln

Storyline

Sally Bender is the wife of a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. He is sent over to Vietnam, and Sally is alone. With nothing else to do, she decides to volunteer at a local veteran's hospital, where she meets Luke, who went to high school with Sally. Luke was wounded and is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. When Sally begins to fall in love with Luke, she has to make a crucial decision about her life.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | hospital | love | paraplegic | orgasm | 

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Taglines:

A man who believed in war! A man who believed in nothing! And a woman who believed in both of them!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le retour

Filming Locations:

Manhattan Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerome Hellman Productions, Jayne Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was one of two 1978 movies that actress Jane Fonda starred in in 1978 that had similar titles. The pictures were Coming Home and Comes a Horseman.

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Quotes

Luke Martin: You know, I spend 95% of the time at the hospital thinking of making love with you.

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Crazy Credits

Four members of the film crew are designated as "Friends who did everything".

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Killer Shrews (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Expecting to Fly"
(1967)
Written by Neil Young (uncredited)
Performed by Buffalo Springfield
Atlantic Recording Corporation

User Reviews

Probably the 2nd best Vietnam War movie behind "Apocalypse Now" (and certainly Hal Ashby's best movie ever).

"Coming Home" was the first Vietnam War movie that dealt with the soldiers' plight sympathetically. Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda) is volunteering at the Veterans' Hospital in Los Angeles while her husband Bob (Bruce Dern) serves in Vietnam. In the process of working in the hospital, Sally sees how the hospital is unprepared to treat the people who are coming back from the war. When paraplegic veteran Luke Martin (Jon Voight) demands better treatment, rather than listen to him, they tranquilize him so that they won't have to deal with him. Over time, Sally and Luke fall in love. When Bob returns from Vietnam, he is completely damaged emotionally. The final scene shows the overall state of the world as a result of the Vietnam War.

Whenever I hear the Rolling Stones' song "Out of Time", it reminds me of "Coming Home". One thing that you get to see in the movie is how, when Sally and Bob are having sex, she is clearly not enjoying it; when Sally and Luke are having sex, she clearly is enjoying it. Fonda and Voight won well-deserved Oscars for their roles, and if you ask me, the movie should have won Best Picture. A solid masterpiece.