Coming Home (1978)
First screened in August 1999 / Most recently screened in July 2016
Director: Hal Ashby. Cast: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine, Robert Ginty, Charles Cyphers, Louis Carello, Willie Tyler, Tresa Hughes, Olivia Cole, Bruce French, Mary Gregory, Beeson Carroll, Kathleen Miller, Richard Lawson, Tim Pelt, Rita Taggart, Kirk Raymond, Bill Hale, Gary Downey, George Roberts, Bob Ott, David Clennon, Arthur Rosenberg, Ned Van Zandt, Dennis Rucker, Jonathan Banks, James G. Richardson, Gary Lee Davis, Marc McClure, Jim Klein, Tokyo Ernie, Raul Bayardo, Ron Amador, Kenneth Augustine, Cornelius Austin, Rick Blanchard, John J. Britt, James Lane, Robert Murdock, Fredrico Orange, Edward Ramirez, Robert Soto, Chris Sweeden, Curtis Waddy, James Williams. Screenplay: Nancy Dowd, Robert C. Jones, and Waldo Salt.

 Twitter Capsule: Not the film everybody wanted; some plot math doesn't add. But each time I see it, direction and actors hit harder.

VOR: ④  As part of the contrasting diptych (with The Deer Hunter) by which studios finally broached Vietnam, it's of lasting if divisive value. Significant takes on disability and feminism, too.


Photo © 1978 United Artists/Jerome Hellman Productions

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: B

(in February 2004: B–)
Academy Award Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture
Best Director: Hal Ashby
★Best Actress: Jane Fonda
★Best Actor: Jon Voight
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Milford
Best Supporting Actor: Bruce Dern
★Best Original Screenplay: Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt, and Robert C. Jones
Best Film Editing: Don Zimmerman

Golden Globe Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture (Drama)
Best Director: Hal Ashby
★Best Actress (Drama): Jane Fonda
★Best Actor (Drama): Jon Voight
Best Supporting Actor: Bruce Dern
Best Screenplay: Waldo Salt & Robert C. Jones

Other Awards:
Cannes Film Festival: Best Actor (Voight)
Writers Guild of America: Best Original Screenplay (Drama)
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Voight)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Picture; Best Actress (Fonda; also cited for California Suite and Comes a Horseman); Best Actor (Voight)
National Board of Review: Best Actor (Voight; tie)
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