Too much of everything

Absolutely Fantastic

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Placed in the rightful hand for direction, Oliver Stone had experienced it all. In the Vietnam War, Stone was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star so therefore no one else was qualified to direct this film that pretty much sums up the nightmare he had endured and the reception he got afterward. "Born on the Forth of July" is the true story centering on Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) who was bitten by the military bug after President John F. Kennedy's speech which inspired him to join the Marines. After all the propaganda hype got to his head, he decided to arbitrarily volunteer after high school.During his second voyage he accidentally annihilates innocent Vietnamese peasants and people of his own brigade while trying to escape the potential fatality of enemy cease fire. Three months into this, Kovic gets shot in the spine and has left him paralyzed from the waist down. He makes his residency in veteran's hospitals and almost gets his leg amputated, but he returns home to his parents.Back home he gets the displeasure reuniting with an old school peer named Steve (Jerry Levine) who's made a great business for himself and had better common sense than to volunteer in the Vietnam War. Kovic is labeled as a hero at a July 4th parade, but has a meltdown unable to cope with the fact that he caused just as much heartbreak as he did triumphed during his journey. He tries to win back his love for his girlfriend Donna (Kyra Sedgwick) who has become an anti-war supporter.Kovic is granted a monthly pension from the government, but he uses his restitution in favour for the sauce as he laments into a chronic state of self-pity distancing himself from his parents who evict him from their home as he travels to Mexico where he's retreated to a haven of other wounded soldiers including an argumentative Charlie (Willem Dafoe). There he starts drinking and hitting it off with hookers.Fortunately, Kovic has a change of plans and comes back home. He comes to terms with the family of the soldier he killed including his widow (Lili Taylor) and becomes an antiwar advocate as interrupts the Republican Presidential convention led by President Richard Nixon which resulted in him being assaulted and rescued. In 1976 at the Democratic convention in New York City announcing the release of his autobiography.After the success of his other films like "Risky Business" and "Rain Man", I though this was going to be chance for Cruise to shine come Oscar time. Sadly he lost out to Daniel Day-Lewis who played another crippled iconic. He dis win the Golden Globes for his performance and did get an ovation when Stone won for Best Director.The movie itself was a box office success considering that an accomplishment being that was made under a small budget. The fan base at the time on imdb.com rated this film a passing grade of 7.2 out of 10 considering the viewership of under 60 K. The main gender age demographics were males around the ages of 18 or under gave the bulk of the appraisal at 7.9 out of 10 I'm guessing these youngsters can feel related to the leading character as he's going through high levels of personal issues and that the attraction can reflect on the youth more easier. For the men over 45 years old, they rated this film at its lowest score of 6.9 out of 10. This is largely due the fact that the star of the film was not closer in connecting with the younger star at the time or that their views were not lenient towards Kovic's antiwar beliefs or the lack of patriotism depicted in this movie.In spite of all the fan support it has received over the years, there are a few flaws that came with the movie, though it didn't deter any of my expectations. Just some minor nitpicks They covered way too much ground making too much out of scenes that weren't in sync with the story. Who cares about Kovic and his failed efforts to win the wrestling title or to crash his school prom in a dramatic rain run. The Vietnam village annihilation was covered in many films before.But Stone and Cruise will go out of their way to leave nothing out in their storytelling even if pisses the life out of you. The intense moments they bring will be there to get a reaction and they really deliver the goods. Especially when Kovic's yelling at his own mother while drunk.Overall this movie is highly recommended with great performances and well deserved of his accolades and awards by the mass. It has an appeal and a btter connection towards its younger audience as it understands Cruise's character better. The older audience members may not sit well with his character or the antiwar statement it's given here. Sure it goes on for too long with scenes that don't fit the story but it thankfully doesn't meander. If you are into war dramas , then this film is a good watch that might touch on you.

6/7/18. This was a really nicely done movie about Ron Kovic, a Vietnam vet who returns from the war paralyzed from the chest down. Reflecting the turbulent times of the '60s and '70s, Kovic must make sense of his patriotism to serve his country in an unpopular war, to getting such injuries that turn out to be life changing. More than anything else, this movie is about how one man reacted to the lack of recognition and respect by people of that time who were anti-war and lacked a complete understanding of what injured vets must go through to try and find their place back in American society. Much of Kovic's journey was one of self-discovery and self-recovery, and how he tried hard to raise awareness of the plight of damaged vets returning home to people who have no understanding of what it's like to fight and come back as a shadow of what they were before. Worth catching.

Born on the Fourth of July is Oliver Stone's film about a U.S. soldier's journey from war supporter, to Vietnam combat veteran, to anti-war activist. The film is based on the true story of Ron Kovic, who enthusiastically bought into the militaristic propaganda peddled by Army recruiters, and enlisted in the military to serve his country in Vietnam. Once there he kills a fellow soldier in a friendly fire incident following the murder of Vietnamese civilians, and then he himself is almost killed in the firefight. The film takes us through his recovery process, both physically and ideologically, as Kovic suffers through the bureaucratic failings of the VA health care system, and begins to see that he was fooled, starting early in life, into supporting a criminal imperialistic nation. It's a powerful film about discovering the truth hidden behind propaganda and the political awakening that results when you stop living in denial and follow the truth to its logical conclusions. Born on the Fourth of July is Stone at his most effective, balancing his bold artistic sensibilities with a well crafted narrative, and Tom Cruise turns in one of his career's best performances in a role that showed why he is a major acting talent as well as Hollywood's biggest star.

To preface my review, I'll say that I am still amazed that I didn't see this film sooner than today. How it escaped even an accidental viewing is, especially considering my thoughts on it in retrospect and my love of war-based cinema, is baffling.What might color the modern viewer who has yet to experience Born, as it did me, was the idea of Tom Cruise portraying a role more down to earth and realistic than we're used to seeing from the actor. Consider also that in 1989 he was just hitting his stride as a cinematic centerpiece along with the blunt force trauma he had to portray as real-life Vietnam veteran Ron Kovac, and the modern viewer is almost assured of having reservations. Watching some of the special features of my copy of the DVD makes me realize that even then, there were reservations about Cruise. At least outside of Oliver Stone and Ron Kovac, who were sold early on.It takes maybe half the film until you start to understand it, but Cruise does sell it, and he sells with more honest integrity than I think he's put into any role in his career. It doesn't surprise me as much considering the room and avenues of expression Oliver Stone has traditionally given to his actors, but it does further cement Cruise as an actor of quality more so than quantity.The film itself, and all of its particulars, offer sharp contrasts, bare humanity and the horrors we're capable of, and the eventual redemption of a man who I do believe, regardless of our own lives, anyone can relate to on some level. It is a story told many times, but this perspective, unique as all perspectives inherently are, is as vital to the entire story of the Vietnam War and ultimately of defining ourselves as any I've ever considered.Whether or not Stone embellishes is not for me to say; I have yet (and I stress 'yet', as I do believe this film will lead me to reading the book Kovac wrote) to explore the particulars. But, in the end, it doesn't matter; the overall message is as clear as can be by the end. This is the story of a young man who believed and who was deceived, only to once again believe. Each step is fittingly littered with personal conflicts and triumphs, intimate encounters with people from various walks of life. It emphasizes the point that our own beliefs, our own deceptions, our own lives are the product of influence. What we perceive from our families, our friends, our media, inevitably colors our choices in life. For Kovac, these choices led to a swirling chaos of negative consequences. These negative consequences ultimately lead to the redeeming aspects of his later life, but the truth is always there, and it's an ugly truth. A haunting truth, brought to life by haunting moments.What keeps me from considering this film as more than very good is an inherent disconnect of generations. While my generation will perhaps look back on our current conflicts in the Middle East the same way the Vietnam generation looks at their own conflicts and struggles, Oliver Stone was and, with Born, is a part of a generation that I am not. His perspective is not hard to relate to, but it is hard to understand.Beyond that, the film has a handful of small issues that feel more like nitpicking but can't be avoided. The cinematography, while advanced for its time, doesn't lend itself as much to intimacy as it does to the swirl of conflict surrounding Kovac and America. The viewer often feels so swept up in the background that it can be difficult to spot and hone in on the essential point of specific scenes. Also, while I applaud Cruise's efforts in his role, he and several other actors are still either miscast or underutilized in my estimation. The storytelling of Oliver Stone, while easy to digest once the film is finished, is choppy and inconsistent, and I felt that certain moments were not given the emphasis they deserved in the overall story of Ron Kovac.Despite the small flaws, I can't imagine nor have I witnessed a better overall portrayal of a war-torn life and the dirt, grime, pain and suffering that must be carried throughout such a life than this film offers. The gritty realism holds up even today, a time where we can often find more harrowing images on our local news than in this film. There is no individual scene or moment that defines Born On The Fourth Of July; it is a journey that resonates most strongly at its bittersweet conclusion.