Born on the Fourth of July

Composite Score: 84.83

Starring: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Josh Evans, Kyra Sedgwick, Frank Whaley, Jerry Levine, Stephen Baldwin, and Willem Dafoe

Director: Oliver Stone

Writers: Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic

Genres: Biography, Drama, War

MPAA Rating: R

Box Office: $161.00 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Born on the Fourth of July is the second film in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam “Trilogy”, this one based on Ron Kovic’s autobiography of the same name, about Kovic’s experiences leading up to, in the midst of, and after his service in the marines during the Vietnam War. The film stars Tom Cruise as Kovic, supported by Raymond J. Barry and Caroline Kava as his parents, Josh Evans as his hippie brother Tommy, Kyra Sedgwick as his occasional love interest Donna, Frank Whaley as his best friend Timmy, and Willem Dafoe as fellow paralyzed vet Charlie. It received eight Oscar Nominations, including Best Actor for Cruise, Best Original Score for John Williams, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay, along with wins for Best Film Editing and for Oliver Stone for Best Director. Its personal and harrowing look at the indoctrination inherent in the military industrial complex, America’s treatment of its veterans (particularly of the Vietnam War), and the experiences of war and PTSD based on first-hand experience make it one of the all-time greats.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                So much of the narrative and cinematic structure of Born on the Fourth of July is devoted to getting the audience to empathize with and live in the moment with Ron that, by the end of the film, the audience is left mentally and emotionally exhausted and probably at least a little bit frustrated with the film’s conclusion, which is basically just a celebration of the fact that people are actually listening now. It asks a lot of its audience, bringing them along for a hectic and tragic ride that fully immerses you in Ron’s life and tribulations, but it also fails to offer any kind of clear improvements or really even solutions to the problems that it engages with, which probably is part of the film’s aim but can be a tough sell for an audience that has just been dragged through everything that Ron went through to get to that final moment. It works in theory, leaving the audience just as unsure of the future as Ron (and probably also Stone and most other Vietnam veterans), but for so much investment up front, I’m inclined to think that most audiences will want something more satisfying than just, “Keep working toward your goal, and you might eventually get to a place where other people want to hear what you have to say about it,” but maybe that’s just me.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                As was the trend with his films pre-2010s, Tom Cruise gives a memorable, emotional, and thoroughly impressive performance as Ron Kovic. This film is Ron’s story, so the actor playing him has to nail every bit of frustration, hope, depression, and determination in order to keep the audience engaged, and Cruise does just that, flexing more than just a winning smile in this Oscar-nominated performance, which ultimately lost out in a stacked category to Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance in My Left Foot. Cruise looks the part for the entire decade of Kovic’s life that we witness. From optimistic but directionless high school student to determined and shaken active-duty marine to despairing hospital patient to floundering paralyzed veteran to catalyzed protest leader, he fills the shoes and lives in the role at a level seldom seen in biopics. He is the reason that the audience can’t turn away and the reason that they continue to struggle right along with Ron even when it would be easier to simply turn the film off.

                Thanks to Cruise’s stellar leading performance, the film can then reach its audience with moving (and still strikingly relevant) messages about the treatment of veterans, especially those wounded on duty, and America’s indoctrination of its young people into the military industrial complex. Kovic’s story is no doubt one of many like it, and watching his treatment, as interpreted on screen by Stone’s direction, has to leave the audience at least slightly frustrated with all levels of the system that would allow any of it to happen and, indeed, would celebrate such senseless losses. You start to empathize with Ron and with his message of change and support. Stone’s own difficulty in processing his time in Vietnam also carries through in the film with a resistance to condemnation or victim blaming of the enlisted soldiers while still trying to find the proper direction for the frustration to flow. Altogether, it takes a solid stance on the way we treat our veterans with a more nuanced take on the war and the propaganda machine that made it as messy as it became.

                Born on the Fourth of July features a masterclass performance from Tom Cruise in the leading role that ties the film together, allowing it to present its thoughts on veterans and the military industrial complex to the audience in a compelling way that earns the film a place of greatness. Its lack of finality after going on such a demanding journey might leave audiences with more frustrations than satisfactions, but that might just be the point. The film is currently available to rent on most streaming services for anyone looking to check it out in the coming days and weeks.