Cruise's greatest performance

Rating: 8/10 (3 June 2014)

Born On The 4th Of July is the movie in which Tom Cruise gave the best performance of his career. Emotionally disturbed, Ron Kovic is a character which you invest fully in and have trouble watching him go through hell during his life. In the end, though he manages to pull through and rise back up. The movie starts with him growing up in a small town during the 1950's and 60's, in which he learns the values of the time. As the Vietnam war approaches, he enlists in the marines believing this to be his duty as an American. But soon after he his crippled by the enemy, Ron will return to a home changed by the effects of the war he was fighting, creating a conflict between everything he believed in and the wave of dis contempt that rages on around him. Despite it's heavily talked about context, let's not forget that this is a story about one individual and how reacted to these events. Ron Kovic was a man that descended to the bottom and within him found the strenght necessary to reclaim his lost dignity. On the filmmaking side of things, Oliver Stone once again delivers his intense directing style and with the usual sharp editing, a riveting script and another classic score from John Williams, the movie is technically brilliant. The divisive story is, for me, an inspirational one and I find it sad that some people don't see this because of their political views.
Rating 8,5/10