In Country

This article is about the lm. For the Kikki Danielsson

album, see In Country (album).

Daniel Jenkins as Dwayne

In Country is a 1989 American drama lm produced

and directed by Norman Jewison, starring Bruce Willis
and Emily Lloyd. The screenplay by Frank Pierson and
Cynthia Cidre was based on the novel by Bobbie Ann Mason. The original music score was composed by James
Horner. Willis earned a best supporting actor Golden
Globe nomination for his role.

Jim Beaver as Earl Smith

Stephen Tobolowsky as Pete

Richard Hamilton as Grandpaw

Heidi Swedberg as Dawn
Ken Jenkins as Jim Holly
Jonathan Hogan as Larry
Patricia Richardson as Cindy

Plot

3 Production

Recent high school graduate Samantha Hughes, 17, lives

in ctional Hopewell, Kentucky with her uncle Emmett
Smith, a laid-back Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic
stress disorder. Samanthas father, Dwayne, was killed in
Vietnam at 21 after marrying and impregnating Samanthas mother, Irene. Samantha nds some old photographs, medals, and letters of her father, and becomes
obsessed with nding out more about him.

3.1 Casting

To prepare for her role, Emily Lloyd stayed with a lawyer

and his family in Paducah, Kentucky. In order to get into
the mindset of a girl whose father has died, the young
actress thought of the death of her paternal grandfather,
Irene, who has moved to Lexington, Kentucky with her Charles Lloyd Pack, a British actor to whom she was very
second husband, wants Samantha to move in with them close.[1] Lloyd underwent training to speak with a Kenand go to college. But Samantha would rather stay with tucky accent in the lm.
Emmett and try to nd out more about her father. Her The veterans in the dance sequence are all actual Vietnamother is no help, as she tells Samantha, Honey, I mar- mas well nd their real family members accompany them.
ried him a month before he left for the war. He was 19. I Of the ve major characters who are Vietnam veterans,
hardly even remember him. Finally, Samantha, Emmett only one, Earl, is played by an actual Vietnam veteran,
and her grandmother visit the Vietnam Veterans Memo- Jim Beaver. Ken Jenkins, who plays Jim Holly (the orgarial in Washington, D.C. Finding her fathers name in the nizer of the veterans dance), is the father of Daniel Jenkmemorial releases cathartic emotions in Samantha and ins, who plays Samanthas father Dwayne in the Vietnam
her family.
ashbacks. Their casting in the lm was purely coinci-

dental. The commencement speaker was played by Don

Young, the minister of a large Baptist church in Paducah,
Kentucky. In an interview with The Paducah Sun, he said
the speech had been written for him but joked that it was
so good, he might borrow parts of it in future sermons.

Cast
Bruce Willis as Emmett Smith
Emily Lloyd as Samantha Hughes

3.2 Filming

Joan Allen as Irene

Much of the lm was shot in Kentuckys far-western

Jackson Purchase, where the original author, Bobbie Ann
Mason, grew up. Her home of Graves County, specifically its county seat of Mayeld, was the location for
many scenes. The walk-in doctors oce seen in the lm
is actually a dry cleaners which was renamed Clothes
Doctor following its appearance in the lm. Several

Kevin Anderson as Lonnie

John Terry as Tom
Peggy Rea as Mamaw
Judith Ivey as Anita
1

other scenes were shot in the Purchases largest city of

Paducah, particularly the scenes inside their home. In a
brief scene shot outside the small home, located in Paducah, one can briey observe a boxer and a black lab lying
under a tree in the front yard. The boxer, Dempsey, belonged to the actual resident of the home, while the black
lab was Dempseys lifelong pal from down the street,
Scotty. Foot note: World War ll vets were also used in
the lm. Some scenes of the lm were shot on location
in Mayfeld, KY ( Bobbie Ann Masons home town)and
other scenes were shot in Paducah, KY.

Release

In Country had its world premiere on September 7, 1989

at the Toronto International Film Festival,[2] which Bruce
Willis attended and dedicated to Canadian war veterans
who fought in Vietnam.[3]

4.1

Box oce performance

The lm was given a limited release on September 15,

1989 in four theaters grossing $36,505 on its opening
weekend. It was given a wide release on September 29,
1989 in 606 theaters grossing $1.3 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $3.5 million in North
America.[4]

4.2

Critical reception

EXTERNAL LINKS

that the lm was a lovely, necessary little stitch in our

torn time.[9]
In her review for The New York Times, Caryn James criticized the cheap and easy touches ... that reduce it to
the shallowness of a television movie, and found James
Horner's score, oensive and distracting.[10] Newsweek
magazines David Ansen wrote, While one can respect
its lofty intentions, the movie doesn't seem to have any
better sense than its high-school heroine of just what
its looking for. At once underdramatized and faintly
stagy, it keeps promising revelations that never quite
materialize.[11] In her review for the Washington Post,
Rita Kempley wrote, Whats meant to be a cohesive family portrait, a suering American microcosm, is a shambles of threads dangling and characters adrift. Jewison
leaves it to stymied viewers to gure out the gist of it.[12]

5 References
[1] Nightingale, Benedict (August 20, 1989). The Americanization of Emily. The New York Times. Retrieved
2010-02-09.
[2] Van Gelder, Lawrence (August 18, 1989). At the
Movies. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
[3] Kelly, Deirdre (September 8, 1989). "In Country premiere dedicated to vets. Globe and Mail.
[4] "In Country". Box Oce Mojo. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
[5] Ebert, Roger (September 29, 1989). "In Country".
Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
[6] Groen, Rick (September 15, 1989). Festival of Festivals:

In Country was generally well received by critics. It has

In Country". Globe and Mail.
a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews.
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the lm three out of four [7] Clark, Mike (September 15, 1989). "In Country: A smalltown memorial to the war. USA Today.
stars and wrote, The movie is like a time bomb. You
sit there, interested, absorbed, sometimes amused, some- [8] Malcolm, Derek (January 11, 1990). America goes to
times moved, but wondering in the back of your mind
the Wall Hollywood is still coming home from Vietwhat all of this is going to add up to. Then you nd out.[5]
nam. The Guardian.
In his review for the Globe and Mail, Rick Groen praised
Emily Lloyds performance: Emily Lloyd, the callow [9] A Stitch in Time. Time. October 2, 1989. Retrieved
2010-02-09 a. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
Brit who burned up the screen in Wish You Were Here,
is letter perfect her accent impeccable and her energy [10] James, Caryn (September 15, 1989). "In Country, Coping
immense.[6] USA Today gave the lm three out of four
With Vietnam. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009stars and praised Bruce Willis subsidiary performance
04-01.
as Lloyds reclusive guardian-uncle is admirably short on
showboating.[7] In his review for The Guardian, Derek [11] Ansen, David (October 2, 1989). Up Against the Wall,
Again. Newsweek.
Malcolm praised Lloyd for her portrait is of a lively waif
who does not intend to be easily defeated by the comedy [12] Kempley, Rita (September 15, 1989). The War In Country". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
of life without adding a few jokes of her own, and it is the
most complete thing she has so far done on the screen,
good as she was in Wish You Were Here".[8] Time magazine felt that the script perhaps pursues too many banal 6 External links
and inconsequential matters as it portrays teen life in a
small town, but that the lm starts to gather force and
In Country at the Internet Movie Database
direction when a dance, organized to honor the local Viet
In Country at AllMovie
vets, works out awkwardly. Furthermore, its critic felt

3
In Country at Rotten Tomatoes
In Country at Box Oce Mojo

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

In Country Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%20Country?oldid=637513516 Contributors: Dale Arnett, David Gerard, Varlaam,

NetBot, SonPraises, Billhpike, Jeman52001, Eubot, Lady Aleena, Thefourdotelipsis, YurikBot, Quentin X, Melly42, SmackBot, Zyxw,
Chris the speller, BabuBhatt, Jennica, Cybercobra, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, J 1982, Robosh, Jumblejim, Nehrams2020, Supermonk,
Cydebot, J.D., Treybien, Mattsell, Easchi, Donmike10, Bovineboy2008, McM.bot, Triwbe, Spinerod, ClueBot, Chester polarbear, Addbot, Blaylockjam10, Rubinbot, Xqbot, DrilBot, EmausBot, Hourton Cladwell, DeWaine, , Vagobot, Alrocial, Mogism, Lisa
Mac67 and Anonymous: 39

7.2

Images

7.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0