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Poster for In Country

In Country

1989 · 2h · R Drama
Directed by Norman Jewison

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Overview

Samantha Hughes, a teenaged Kentucky girl, never knew her father, who died in Vietnam before her birth. Samantha lives with her uncle Emmett, who also served in Vietnam. Emmett hangs around with Tom, Earl, and Pete, three other Vietnam vets who, like Emmett, all have problems of one kind or another that relate to their war experiences. Samantha becomes obsessed with finding out about her father.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
68%
Tomatometer
Fresh

There's a decency about this movie that's almost palpable. It's not trying to pump us up with false jingoism or the sins of the past. Jewison, a Canadian, probably approaches the entire subject with a mediatory mood.

Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times
Fresh

In essence, In Country is a well-turned variation on the quest to find a father that shows up in the folk tales of almost any culture.

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer
Fresh

The scene at the memorial is one of the film's best, but director Jewison fails to find in it anything close to the level of emotional force that the same scene in Mason's book has.

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
Rotten

This is no tribute to the war dead, but an unthinking betrayal of them -- they've been drafted again, this time to supply a climax to a second-rate tearjerker.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune
Rotten

Norman Jewison usually is a commanding storyteller, but In Country is a film with two stories that fail to add up to something greater.

Variety Staff, Variety

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