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.
Acting
Bruce Willis proving he can do more than smirk at explosions.
Writing
Dialogue that actually sounds like humans in Kentucky, not Hollywood.
Director
Norman Jewison
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Emily Lloyd was 17 during filming and had to be legally accompanied by a tutor; her Kentucky accent was so convincing locals didn't realize she was British.
Released the same year as Born on the Fourth of July, this was part of a brief late-80s wave of Vietnam films that finally let veterans be complicated rather than heroic.
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