Born on the Fourth of July Directed by Oliver Stone Starring Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgewick, Willem Dafoe USA, 1989 Rated R (realistic war violence, sex, and strong pervasive language)
The protagonist of Oliver Stone's biopic Born on the Fourth of July is Ron Kovic, a man disillusioned by dreams of heroism, maimed at war, and determined at making something of himself after part of him is lost forever. The movie has faults- it sometimes loses sight of what it wants the audience to feel- but it is a strong film nonetheless: more profound than Stone's earlier Vietnam epic Platoon and focused more on one person than the other film, which is vaster. However, despite what you may have heard about Tom Cruise's performance, it is not an improvement from his Rain Man-Top Gun shtick. His is not bad acting in this film, but it's nothing special- it's low on the depth and heavy on false emotion. (His first piece of great acting was in Jerry Maguire, seven years later.)
Born on the Fourth of July follows Ron Kovic on his journey to realization- the realization of the horrors of war. As a kid, he is fascinated with war and fighting and heroism and as a teenager, he feels a need to be "somebody", a hero, a "man". Tom Berenger plays a stoneish, firm Marine corps recruiter who tries to convince Ron's high school's men to be masculine and join the Marines- go to war, basically. For Ron, it is the final push that determines his destiny- he will join the Marines, go to war and be a celebrated veteran. He has no idea what the Vietnam War is about, he doesn't want to experience the violence of it, but he wants to be a "man" and he wants to prove himself. His parents encourage him to go but we see that he is still looking for the right direction. He is sure he wants to join the Marines, yet he is doubtful of what it will bring him. He prays to God to show him the right way.
When he goes to Vietnam, he is immediately faced with an attack. He mistakenly attacks the homes of women and children and he accidentally, in the bitter confusion of it all, kills a young man on his side. Then, he is shot in the leg. Is this the price you have to pay for heroism? He is now regretful that he ever decided to go to war. He is crammed into a rat-infested, non-hygienic hospital where he is mutilated, becomes paralyzed, and is put in a wheelchair. Oliver Stone spares us nothing in his images of the hospital. It is a disgusting place to be, the pinnacle of filth. It made me cringe. All the while, Ron Kovic is desperately trying to piece it all together- he's gone to war, he's lost his manhood and the ability to walk, he is filthy and sweating, and no one recognizes that he is the "hero" that he is. What's the payoff?
When he returns home to his parents' house, everyone looks at him with "I'm so sorry" looks and everyone speaks in "I'm so sorry" tones. This is not what he wanted. He wanted his parents to hold him up like a trophy, he wanted people to recognize what he did for his country. Instead, he gets a bathroom specially designed for his disability. There are now hippie anti-war activists around. Ron believes what he did was good and that it proves he loves his country. He condemns the activists, saying they can "love [their country] or leave it." He wants to justify the pain of the war by upholding it. He still doesn't even know what it was all about. He still carries the wait of the guilt of killing the Vietnamese women and babies and a man on his platoon.
Ron's high school sweetheart (Kyra Sedgewick) is one of the many activists and she tries to convince him that war is no good. He begins to believe her. He goes on vacation in Mexico where he fools around with prostitutes to fulfill his emptiness. Since the war, he has changed. He doesn't know what he wants- he knows it was his decision to go to war, but he is thirsty for honor, fame, and recognition. The film's aim is often blurry at this point. We realize that it wants a lot from us: first it wants us to cheer for Ron who is pursuing his dreams and going to war, then it asks us to feel sorry for him because of all the harm war did to him- it also asks us to stand by Ron's conviction that war is honorable, then it asks us to hate war.
Ron begins to hate war and join political rallies against the Vietnam War. First, we feel he is doing it out of compassion for the young, disillusioned men suffering in Vietnam as he did, but then we realize his motives are selfish. He wants to scream to the country, "This is what happened to me! Feel sorry for me! Love me! Give me heroism!" He longs to fill his void with something important like these rallies, but what he says seems to be more of self-pitying talk like "This is what happened to me! I had to suffer!"
Tom Cruise's performance is often flat and emotionless. He seems to think a great performance lies in amazing, loud outbursts complete with screaming and swearing. There have been many great performances that have indulged in such sequences- his sinks its teeth into fights with activists, politicians, and his family but it all seems so passionless, self-indulgent, and almost like showing-off. Cruise seems to be holding a contest of who can shout the loudest- if so, he'd probably win. There are some good moments but it isn't a really well worked-out performance.
Apart from the flaws, there is the masterful John Williams score, the interesting, dull-colored photography of Robert Richardson, and a good story. The motives are sometimes shifty and the ending is vague but the movie is like all good anti-war films- showing a man ruined by war and trying to get back on his feet.
By Andrew Chan
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