The film is based on a novel. It is about a young woman- Sally whose husband fights for war in Viet Nam is a volunteer at local veteran's hospital. She meets Luke Martin who is paralyzed and their romance blossom. In no time, They must confront a serious problem when her husband comes back home.
Coming Home is in general an excellent Hal Ashby film which illuminates the conflicting attitudes on the Vietnam debacle from the standpoint of three participants.
Though well acted by Jon Voight and Jane Fonda (who won Oscars), Coming Home is one of Hal Ashby's weakest films, a middlebrow melodrama that wears its political message on its sleeves.
A wonderful movie with stellar performances; though Dern is a bit of a caricature.
Chicago Reader
October 31, 2007
The film has less to do with politics, women's or otherwise, than with a very conventional notion of the redemptive power of mother love. Which would be all right if director Hal Ashby had managed to mount it effectively.