Rent The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Great film - The Best Years of Our Lives review by PL

This is a ‘proper’ film. Really enjoyed end to end. Fascinating also to see US post war. It’s in black and white but that adds to the authenticity. Perhaps you have to be of a certain age to enjoy these classics. No swear words just a good story.

Home, Damaged, and Trying - The Best Years of Our Lives review by griggs

Few films confront the quiet wreckage of war quite like The Best Years of Our Lives. No flag-waving, no speeches—just three men coming home and trying to remember how to live. What makes it special isn’t the drama, but the discomfort: awkward silences, mismatched expectations, and the slow, painful realisation that heroism doesn’t guarantee happiness.

Fred can’t hold down a job, Al drinks his way through middle-class dinners, and Homer, played with astonishing naturalism by Harold Russell, returns home with prosthetic hooks and a smile he’s trying hard to believe. The film treats all three with grace but never indulges them. It doesn’t flinch from trauma, disillusionment, or the pressure to move on when you're still not sure who you are.

For something made in 1946, it’s startlingly modern—brushing up against PTSD, disability, and postwar malaise long before those terms had cultural weight. Wyler’s direction is restrained but deeply humane, and the performances feel lived-in, not theatrical. It’s a quietly radical film that earns its sentiment by refusing to sugarcoat the cost of peace.

The Best Years of our Lives - The Best Years of Our Lives review by BM

Wonderful film, second time I've seen it recently and enjoyed it so. I can remember it way back presumably when it was released and don't remember it having an impact but I was only in my early teens so wouldnt have lived a life! It delt with Important issues and had some very humorous moments and all the characters well acted and had been well cast.

I'd love to buy a copy but HMV don't seem to know about it and I don't do Amazon.