Born on the Fourth of July
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF
JULYÂ (18)
D:Â Oliver Stone
Universal/Ixtlan (Oliver Stone & A. Kitman
Ho)
USA 🇺🇸 1989
140 mins
Â
War/Biopic
Â
W:Â Oliver Stone & Ron
Kovic [based on the autobiography by Ron Kovic]
DP:Â Robert Richardson
Ed:Â David Brenner & Joe
Hutshing
Mus:Â John Williams
PD: Bruno Rubeo
Cos: Judy Ruskin
Â
Tom Cruise (Ron Kovic), Raymond J.
Barry (Mr. Kovic), Caroline Kava (Mrs. Kovic), Josh Evans (Tommy Kovic), Kyra Sedgwick (Donna), Willem Dafoe (Charlie), Bryan Larkin (Young Ron)
Â
The second film of Oliver Stone's 'Vietnam Trilogy', a
biopic of Ron Kovic, a patriotic, all-American kid who felt compelled to join in the conflict when he was drafted at a young & impressionable age.
Left paralysed from the waist down following a
skirmish, Ron returned home to an America which felt very differently about the war from how they did before he went to fight. Felt let down by his country, Ron went on to become an
anti-war campaigner.
Tom Cruise gives a scintillating performance as Kovic,
changing over the years as Ron's personality did. From red, white & blue, baseball-loving, church-going, apple-pie-eating kid to a bitter & hateful Vietnam vet, ostracised by
everyone, including his own devoutly Catholic family following an alcohol-fuelled rage.
Whilst not as hard-hitting as Stone's previous war
film Platoon, the film still carries huge importance, as well as delivering a strong political message, though some may feel that it will carry a lot more weight on the American side of
the Atlantic.
8/10
