Coming Home

Hal Ashby, 1975 (8.1*)
Memorial Day War-athon #6
A powerful anti-war film about Vietnam vets coming home to re-establish their lives which are forever changed by the war. Jane Fonda and Jon Voight each won acting Oscars® as two people who fall in love while fighting for the rights of returning war vets. He's now a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair, which he uses in his anti-war speeches. Voight also won actor at Cannes, and a Golden Globe for his performance (six awards in all).

Bruce Dern, also an Oscar®-nominee, is unfortunately the loser in this triangle, as it's his wife, Fonda, that falls in love with another man while he's still serving in Vietnam. He's still a more traditional patriot, while Fonda has moved on to the anti-war side as the war has continued without an end in sight.

This had no combat scenes so it wasn't as powerful as some other Vietnam-era films like The Deer Hunter and Platoon, (both Oscar® winners for best picture) yet it provided an equally powerful anti-war statement, about life from peacetime, from the civilian side, and the lifelong effects the war will have on some participants.

Winner of 3 Oscars® (actor, actress, screenplay directly for the screen), and 13 awards overall