The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

You all may have noticed that I have not written a review in a while. That is because my brain has been melted. In order to finish by the six month deadline I was watching two movies a day. On top of the fact that I had no time to write reviews, this blistering pace took way too much effort. After a bunch of crappy movies in a row I decided that I don't care about any of you more than I care about my IQ, so I decided to stop watching so many movies. This will allow me to actually get something productive done. If this makes you upset, deal with it. I don't give a hoot.

Someone once said, "War is hell." Well they've never been to fat camp. Fortunately for me, I haven't been to war or fat camp. That doesn't mean, however, that I am unfamiliar with the aftermath. When you give a bunch of men guns and say, "Here. Get good at shooting this." somebody is bound to get hurt. The military is not all fun and games like Top Gun would have us believe.



Eventually soldiers come home and the injuries they received, whether it be physical or psychological, is a topic of interest for everyone and can make coming home very difficult. The Best Years of Our Lives follows three soldiers, and their experiences returning home after WWII.

The most impressive (and somewhat shocking) thing about this movie was the character Homer (played by Harold Russell). Homer is a Navy man that lost both of his hands in the war. True to technology back then, Homer has two hooks instead of hands. Unlike Chubbs, his hooks don't make his forearm unnaturally long.

With amazing dexterity Russell controls these hooks to really sell his part as Homer. I thought to myself, "He must have been wearing those hooks for weeks before this movie to practice." I later found out that Harold is a real life veteran, and really did lose his hands in WWII. This made his performance not only real, but powerful. After all, it's hard to play a part poorly when it was virtually written just for you.

This was a very good movie. It was a little slow at times, but not enough to ruin the movie. By the end I felt a close connection with the characters, and really wanted to see them be happy. Much like my feelings towards Pam and Jim on The Office. Not the most amazing movie I have seen, but I liked it.

The Bottom Line:
Rating: 3.7
Would I own it? It lacked a certain wow factor.
Would I recommend it? Yeah Homer was awesome.