- This is about the movie. For the other uses, see The War at Home.
The War at Home is a 1996 motion picture starring Emilio Estevez, Kathy Bates, and Martin Sheen. Estevez also directed the film and also served as co-producer.
Estevez plays Jeremy Collier, a returning Vietnam War hero whose haunting experiences leave him unable to adjust to the quiet realities of small town life. The film lays bare the hidden costs of war on the soldiers who fight, and kill, not for the rightness of their cause, but simply to survive.
Sheen plays Bob Collier, Jeremy's father. He expects his son to go back to the way his life was, not understanding the problems of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kathy Bates plays Estevez's mother, Maurine, who treats Jeremy "like he's a 10-year-old", and also seems to think he should forget about his war experiences.
His sister Karen, played by actress Kimberly Williams, is a little more but not completely understanding of his "adjustment problems", but her father doesn't want her to try helping her brother.
This is most notably portrayed in the movie when the family's Thanksgiving celebration occurs and Jeremy refuses to put his "nice" clothes on and instead decides to wear his combat uniform and medal. The film climaxes at the conclusion of the Thanksgiving celebration when Jeremy pulls his semi-automatic handgun on his father and his family, explaining the hate he feels for his father because he wouldn't lend Jeremy money to leave the country to escape the draft.
He also explains how he was able to execute a Vietcong prisoner only because he saw his father's face instead of the enemy soldier's face. Jeremy finally breaks down hugging his father only to coldly be thrown out of the house by him despite pleas from his daughter that Jeremy needs help. A teary-eyed Jeremy is seen buying a bus ticket and the clerk asks if he is all right; a voice-over then explains that Jeremy would be and that he was among the thousands of veterans who made the trip to Washington at the unveiling of the Vietnam Memorial.
A box office failure the film was made for $3 million, and was distributed by Touchstone Pictures. But Disney didn't advertise the film very much, and it grossed only $43,000.[citation needed] The film was released on DVD in September 2002.
The film is faithful to the time period, using music from legends such as Buffalo Springfield, and many songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. These sort of serve as the film's musical score. There is some original music as well.
Jeremy's door has a "God's eye" on it. Bob drives a Chevrolet from the period.
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