COMING HOME (1978) ***
Jane Fonda is married to Bruce Dern who goes away to fight in
It’s love at first sight.
Anyway, Hanoi Jane starts hanging out at the hospital A LOT. So much so that all Jon wants to do is jump her bones. He does in fact, and even though Jane used a body double this time out, those puppies still looked pretty good. Their affair is cut short when they learn that Brucie boy is… Coming Home.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a title.
Bruce finds out that Jane’s been giving Jon the all-you-can-eat clams special and he, in typical Bruce Dern fashion, goes nuts. So nuts that he’s got to take all his clothes off and jump in the ocean; presumably to swim back to
What easily could’ve been your basic Lifetime Movie of the Week shenanigans is anchored by three good performances by Voight, Fonda, and particularly Dern. His meltdown scene near the end is pretty great.
I also enjoyed watching the excellent supporting cast do their thing. I never expected to see The Exterminator himself, Robert Ginty act alongside Jane Fonda, I’ll tell you that much. Although he didn’t whip out his trusty flamethrower in his smallish part, it’s good to know the dude was there earning a paycheck. Also hanging out was Charles (Halloween) Cyphers, Robert (Revenge of the Nerds) Carradine, and best of all Willie Tyler and his dummy Lester!
We also get SIX classic Stones tunes on the soundtrack, which I guess makes sense because director Hal Ashby would later go onto do the Stones’ concert flick, Let’s Spend the Night Together. There’s also two crappy Beatles songs in there too, but they don’t detract from the film too much.