BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY Movie Review
1989 Oliver Stone
Everything that people love and detest about Oliver Stone's films is in full flower here—ambitious theme, bracing visual style, undisguised political biases. The film is also an important turning point in Tom Cruise's career, completing his transformation from rising star to serious actor. He received his first Academy Award nomination for his role as Ron Kovic. Though his autobiographical story is presented as a distillation of the political and social upheaval that America went through from the mid-'60s to the mid-'70s, the film really cannot carry that much baggage. At heart, it's propaganda.
Stone and cinematographer Robert Richardson begin the story as a twisted, tinted cinematic version of a sitcom—Ozzie and Harriet, perhaps—with boys playing war in suburban woods. It's Massapequa, Long Island, 1956. Ron Kovic grows up as a typical American white kid who believes in God, country, sports, and sex. His father's (Raymond J. Barry) something of a non-entity, leaving his forceful mother (Caroline Kava) as the dominant personality in the home. To Ron, she's a repressive slave driver who sets a standard he can never measure up to. That, in part, is why he enlists in the Marines, straight out of high school. Cut to the Cua Viet River, October 1967, where Sgt. Kovic is in his second tour.
The short vision of Vietnam that Stone presents here is even more surreal and horrifying than the violence in Platoon. An attack on a village is a disaster, and the Marines' retreat from it is even worse for Kovic. That nightmare is compounded when Kovic is seriously wounded, sent to a MASH unit, and then to a Bronx Veteran's Administration hospital. Paralyzed from the waist down, Kovic lives in a hell few can imagine. From that moment, the next hour or so is a steep downward spiral of self-pity, drunkeness, squalor and, most important, guilt over one incident for which he cannot forgive himself. It's honest, unflattering, and ugly. Then, to use the language of the times, Stone cops out. When it's time to resolve the issues that he has so passionately put forth, he hems and haws and allows the core transformation to occur off camera.
Something turns Kovic from a love-it-or-leave-it hawk into an antiwar activist who is spat upon and thrown out of the hall at the 1972 Republican National Convention, and then is received at the 1976 Democratic National Convention as an honored speaker. A throwaway moment tells the audience that he wrote a book sometime between the two events, but that is the only indication of the changes he undergoes. At the conclusion, then, the film's message is that nasty white Republicans hate anyone who looks different and challenges their cozy narrowminded beliefs, while Democrats of all colors are wise and tolerant. Such stereotyping is the stuff of campaign ads and bumper stickers. It is a lazy ending that calls into question all that has come before, and much of that is fine.
Even at his worst, Stone is never boring and, until the last reel, the action moves forcefully. That's also part of the film's undoing. If Stone had elected in the middle section to spend less time wallowing in Mexican fleshpots and to pay more attention to Kovic's real maturation, he might have created the antiwar epic he was aiming for, revealing the physical and psychological costs of Vietnam. He certainly could not have asked for more from his star. Cruise's performance is one of his best, capturing both the cocky, insecure young man and the haunted veteran. That, despite the political posturing, is what has made Born on the Fourth of July such a success at the boxoffice.
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ron Kovic), Kyra Sedgwick (Donna), Raymond J. Barry (Mr. Kovic), Jerry Levine (Steve Boyer), Tom Berenger (Recruiting Sergeant), Willem Dafoe (Charlie), Frank Whaley (Timmy), John Getz (Marine Major), Caroline Kava (Mrs. Kovic), Bryan Larkin (Young Ron), Abbie Hoffman (Strike organizer), Stephen Baldwin (Billy Vorsovich), Josh Evans (Tommy Kovic), Dale Dye (Infantry Colonel), William Baldwin (Platoon), Don “The Dragon” Wilson (Corpsman), Vivica A. Fox (Hooker), Holly Marie Combs (Jenny), Tom Sizemore (Vet), Daniel Baldwin (Vet), Ron Kovic (Veteran at parade); Cameo(s): Oliver Stone; Written by: Oliver Stone; Cinematography by: Robert Richardson; Music by: John Williams; Technical Advisor: Mark Ebenhoch, Dale Dye. Producer: Universal, Oliver Stone. Awards: Academy Awards '89: Best Director (Stone), Best Film Editing; Directors Guild of America Awards '89: Best Director (Stone); Golden Globe Awards '90: Best Actor—Drama (Cruise), Best Director (Stone), Best Film—Drama, Best Screenplay; Nominations: Academy Awards '89: Best Actor (Cruise), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Original Score. Boxoffice: 70M. MPAA Rating: R. Running Time: 145 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, LV, Letterbox, Closed Caption, DVD.