I knew someone who knew Ron Kovic.

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2006)

Oliver Stone - who appears briefly as a TV interviewer - had already focused on the Vietnam War with "Platoon", but he did an even better job with "Born on the Fourth of July". Telling the story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), an all-American boy turned anti-war activist, Stone brings political issues to the screen once again. The movie specifically chronicles how Kovic grew up playing baseball and going to church (and even supported the war at first), but totally changed after he saw what his government was doing in Vietnam and lost the use of his legs. This may have been Tom Cruise's best role ever; since then, his roles have gotten kinda silly.
On a side note, Stew Albert - who guided me with my bar mitzvah - knew Ron Kovic. In fact, Stew's good friend Abbie Hoffman appears in the movie.