Born on the 4th of July is a Yankee Doodle Dandy of A Film ****

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2008)

No matter what you think of the political views of director Oliver Stone, he has created a masterpiece here in his Oscar winning directing of this terrific film.
As Ron Kovic, Tom Cruise has never been better. The gung-ho kid who strongly believed in his country and went to war only to find out the realities of Vietnam proves Cruise's true grit in his remarkable performance. Cruise should have won the Oscar here but lost out to an excellent Daniel Day Lewis for "My Left Foot." Ironically, the academy generally goes for handicapped people in awarding their statues. That year, 1989, they had 2 handicapped men vying for best actor in the performances by both Cruise and Lewis.
Willem DeFoe gives a sensational brief performance as an embittered Vietnam vet. The latter's wheelchair fight with Cruise is remarkably done.
Besides the morality of the war, the film gives us a grim reminder of what hospital conditions were like for severely injured soldiers and the taunting that they faced when they participated in the anti-war demonstration.
"Born on the 4th of July" is a riveting film depicting a very tragic era in the history of this great country.