The War at Home (1996)

Jeremy Collier is a Vietnam veteran who has returned home and is struggling to cope with the war experiences that haunt him. He is also at odds with his family, who cannot begin to ... See full summary »

Director:

Emilio Estevez

Writers:

James Duff (play), James Duff (screenplay)

Stars:

Emilio Estevez, Kathy Bates, Martin Sheen

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emilio Estevez	...	Jeremy Collier
Kathy Bates	...	Maurine Collier
Martin Sheen	...	Bob Collier
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Karen Collier (as Kimberly Williams)
Corin Nemec	...	Donald
Ann Hearn	...	Prof. Tracey
Carla Gugino	...	Melissa
Marcus H. Nelson	...	Pvt. Poe
Michael Wiseman	...	Lieutenant
Jena Kraus	...	Coffee House Singer
Chad Morgan	...	Bus Station Clerk
Penelope Allen	...	Marjoree (as Penny Allen)
Geoffrey Blake	...	David
Renée Estevez	...	Brenda
Tuan Tran	...	Viet Cong

Storyline

Jeremy Collier is a Vietnam veteran who has returned home and is struggling to cope with the war experiences that haunt him. He is also at odds with his family, who cannot begin to understand what he has been through. Jeremy's battles with his family finally spiral out of control on Thanksgiving Day, when a bitter secret is revealed.

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Plot Keywords:

thanksgiving | vietnam | thanksgiving day | veteran | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

There Is A Secret About To Explode.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a war-related shooting, an intense sequence of violent threat, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Conflitti di famiglia

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$15,040 (USA) (22 November 1996)

Gross:

$34,368 (USA) (29 November 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min 119 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emilio Estevez appeared in Disney's D3: The Mighty Ducks for free in exchange for the studio providing this film's $3 million budget.

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Quotes

Karen Collier: You know how in horror movies the door is swinging back and forth from one hinge in front of a dark room, and some stupid moron is walking up to it, just gonna go in, and you think to yourself, 'Why is she doing that? Why is she going in there? What could possible make her go into that room? Doesn't she know better?'
Donald: Yeah.
Karen Collier: [looks over at her house] Don't let me go in there, please.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Vietnam (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Almost Cut My Hair"
Written by David Crosby
Performed by Crosby Stills Nash & Young (as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

No one understands the pain of Vietnam unless....

The one thing that struck me most about this simple movie was how the characters could not relate to the feelings that the principal character Jeremy felt. An isolation, a feeling of despair, a sudden irrational fear of circumstances, a guilt feeling of "Why me?" This movie was not a financial success and could not be. It gives an all too true expression of the mixed psychological emotions felt by those who know the Nam experience.

My one thought for you is to watch this movie and try to understand these feelings that too many of us experience in life and our dreams continually. Perhaps this can help heal us all.

The cast is beautiful and I was quite shocked to learn that Martin Sheen's son had directed it. The biggest shock to watching this movie is to learn that it is not entertaining. That is not a condemnation but rather a description.

The only unreal part were the scenes of war.