Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

Considering that today is the fourth of July, I thought it was appropriate to help celebrate the day by watching a film that has something to do with it. When I first did the 30 Day Challenge, someone on Twitter mentioned the film I chose for today because it had a number in it and it so happens that I had never seen Born On The Fourth Of July which was written and directed by Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers). The film stars Tom Cruise (The Outsiders) as small town New York kid Ron Kovic who decides that he is going to join the Marines right out of high school and in the process is sent to Vietnam. During battle, Ron manages to accidentally kill a fellow American soldier, but during the battle gets hit by enemy fire that leaves him paralyzed. The rest of the film follows Ron as he struggles to life back home in the states and the road is definitely easy for the Vietnam Vet. The film also stars Raymond J. Barry (Dead Man Walking) as Mr. Kovic, Caroline Kava (Year Of The Dragon) as Mrs. Kovic, William Baldwin (Internal Affairs) as Platoon Member, Bill Allen (Rad) as Platoon Member, Kyra Sedgwick (Villains) as Donna, Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction) as Timmy, Jerry Levine (Teen Wolf) as Steve, Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects) as Billy, Willem Dafoe (Death Note) as Charlie, Rocky Carroll (NCIS) as Willie, Tom Sizemore (Natural Born Killers) as Vet, and Holly Marie Combs (Charmed) as Jenny.

This is your typical Oliver Stone film where he takes a side and he runs with it, but at the same time this is also the story of a man who has hung onto the American ideals for years. He remembers a speech by Kennedy that had him bought and sold into the American way so he joins the war that he believes that he is doing the right thing. Even after getting shot and paralyzed he comes home to a country he no longer recognizes because he still believes in the ideals of why he went to war in the first place. Then after some struggles in the world, he finally figures out that everything he has been told was a lie by the government and he quickly switches sides and he know sees the errors of the war. Tom Cruise is obviously the star of the show, but he is definitely helped out by all the individual performances in the film and there were just way too many names to list above that definitely played a huge role in the film. The film definitely shows you the ugly side of war which is the aftermath and the struggles these men went through when they got home from Vietnam. They were definitely thrown in poor conditions and the government did nothing about it back then and they still don't. The cinematography of the film is definitely a highlight of the film with all the great shots and you don't get the Stone Natural Born Killers look which was a relief. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.