Much better the second time.

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 1999)

Being a fan of war movies, I decided to check out the highly acclaimed and heavily nominated film Born on the Fourth of July from director Oliver Stone (who made one of the greatest war films Platoon). After watching the film the first time, I came out disliking it, too long and boring. But I caught the film on HBO, and after seeing it a second time, my opinion has changed. It's not a great war film, but to be honest it's not as much a war film as it is the story of one man. That man is played by Tom Cruise (Rainman, Jerry Maguire). Cruise plays Ron Kovic in this real-life story. Cruise plays a young man who enlists for Vietnam and comes back paralyzed from wounds he suffered. The scenes in Vietnam are haunting and perfectly done. Cruise comes back to friends who have started normal lives, a family that has missed him, and people who yell at him for going to Vietnam. Initially, Cruise gets along with his family, but soon his views begin to change on Vietnam, he changes from pro-war to anti-war and alienates his family with some of his actions and after spending some time in Mexico he becomes one of the biggest anti-war protestors. The film is still too long, but I found myself compelled by the story so much more the second time. I am a Tom Cruise fan, not only does he make great movies, but I feel he is one of the better actors in Hollywood. This is by far his best performance. He gives an excellent performance as Ron Kovic and earned his Oscar nomination. The supporting performances are all good with special mention to Raymond J. Barry (Dead Man Walking, Sudden Death) as Cruise's father and the always great Frank Whaley (The Doors, Swimming with Sharks) as a friend who also went to Vietnam. But the supporting performance of the movie belongs to Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Tom & Viv) as a veteran at Mexico. Dafoe perfectly captures the despair of the vet who tries to drown it out with booze.