Yanks

R

Released Sep 19, 1979

2 hr. 19 min.

Romance

List

57%

21 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Matt (Richard Gere) and John (William Devane), U.S. soldiers stationed in England during World War II, are both beginning affairs with British women, but they soon find their romances complicated by moral dilemmas and a clash of cultures. Jean (Lisa Eichhorn), a girl from a working class family, has caught Matt's eye, and John is trying to woo the elegant Helen (Vanessa Redgrave). However, both woman are already involved with local men who have left for the front.

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Nawt W

The story desperately tries to paint infidelity as a romantic necessity by stringing together empty platitudes about fleeting life during wartime. Unfortunately, it comes off as really insincere for the main pair of Gere and Eichhorn. The sets and mood of the coming Overlord are great, but for a 2 hour runtime, that's all this movie can actually boast about. The Devane and Redgrave pair are somehow better acted and seem more tender despite having few scenes. Chick Vennera never goes beyond his upbeat Italian guy, who is somehow not racist, which is the most unbelievable part of the entire character. The film is made up of back-to-back scenes of domestic tripe mixed with Yankee fascination, making it appear as if Britain never had an army. It also raised my contempt for the so-called "British war sacrifices". The Blitz should've lasted longer if the British are actually going to pretend that those insulting attempts to showcase "rationing" and having to go on bicycle everywhere are somehow examples of civilian resilience.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/30/22

Full Review

ashley h

Yanks is a fantastic film. It is about U.S. soldiers who are stationed in England during World War II. Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave give excellent performances. The screenplay is good but a little slow in places. John Schlesinger did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the drama. Yanks is a must see.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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steve d

The Story is uninteresting but the acting is good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This film is unjustly given lower scores than it deserves. It is a moving and realistic recreation of a time and place with wonderful performances all around. Gere, Eichorn, Redgrave and Devane all shine. And Rachel Roberts was robbed of an Oscar nom (but won the BAFTA at least). Schlesinger was an incredible and sensitive director. There is not a false note, set, costume or gesture in the entire film. Beautiful atmosphere and score. Compelling story lines. The only thing keeping this from a higher score for me is it has a hard time maintaining momentum all the way through. But then it comes back with an incredibly moving WOW of an ending. (side note...too bad Devane had a handicap of sounding almost exactly like Jack Nicholson. Close your eyes and you could swear its Nicholson. Only Devane has a warmer, more sincere presence than Jack does).

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/27/19

Full Review

Audience Member

An excellent depiction of what went on during that time before D Day. Great development of characters and story lines.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie is very atmospheric; its makers put much effort into creating an authentic setting and realistic scenarios and characters. One really feels transported into the historical situation, without any nostalgic cheesiness. I also appreciate that the movie is leisurely in its pace; it's definitely all about getting to know the characters and seeing them evolving. Very refreshing in this age of fast-paced punchlines. Lisa Eichhorn delivers by far the best performance in the film as she portrays conflicted emotions, torn between her loyalty to her fiancé at the front and her attraction to the brash and charming American sergeant pursuing her. Amazingly, Eichhorn is American--I have never seen an American actor/actress portray a British character so genuinely. Her body language, facial expressions, and accent seem British through and through--not a trace of Americanness.... Gere is charismatic and delivers a good performance as well. What bothered me most about the movie was the uncritical way it portrays the sleazy adulterous affair between the Vanessa Redgrave and Walter Devaine characters. Those two characters are supposed to be very sensitive people with real emotional depth, yet they seem far too untroubled about the spouses they are cheating, even though, at a certain point, the Redgrave character does encounter compunction. Devaine just seems smarmy and ingratiating--it's unconvincing to me that the finely sensitive Redgrave character would take him seriously. She acts as if he's somehow this sensitive kindred soul, but as a viewer, it's hard to share her viewpoint. And yet the movie seems to insist that one ought to see him that way. The movie's ending is painfully inconclusive--one is left wondering with painful uncertainty about the ultimate future of the Gere and Eichhorn characters. Of course, one is supposed to feel what the characters are feeling--the painful uncertainty of wartime...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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John Schlesinger

Director

Richard Gere

Matt Dyson

Lisa Eichhorn

Jean Moreton

Vanessa Redgrave

Helen

William Devane

John

Chick Vennera

Danny Ruffelo

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

It's soft, sort of spongy and so bland that you may well remember the scenery better than anything that happens in front of it.

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

Gary Arnold

Washington Post

Yanks remains an unusually appealing and ingratiating movie.

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Director John Schlesinger has done a beautiful job with both cast and craft in Yanks, a multiple love story set in England in World War II. Yet little that's exciting ever happens in the picture.

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

Rick Chatenever

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Yanks has a richness to it in both its technical and its human elements. Many of the episodes shine with emotional clarity and understanding, and they all reflect the sheen of Schlesinger's craft.

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

Rex Reed

Vogue

In every decade, a truly memorable motion picture comes along that, sometimes, if we're lucky, can enrich our lives. Yanks will be the one from the 1970s that future audiences and historians will remember, and cherish.

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

People Staff

People Magazine

Though some of the photography is stunning and the mood of wartime Europe is warmly rendered, this is not a movie to write home about.

Apr 16, 2020

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Synopsis

Matt (Richard Gere) and John (William Devane), U.S. soldiers stationed in England during World War II, are both beginning affairs with British women, but they soon find their romances complicated by moral dilemmas and a clash of cultures. Jean (Lisa Eichhorn), a girl from a working class family, has caught Matt's eye, and John is trying to woo the elegant Helen (Vanessa Redgrave). However, both woman are already involved with local men who have left for the front.

Director: John Schlesinger
Screenwriter: Colin Welland
Production Co: Universal/Universal Int
Rating: R
Genre: Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 1979, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2013

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