Review of Born on the Fourth of July (1989) by Janetta B — 26 Jan 2008

This movie was well-worth seeing and extremely well made, especially considering the time period. The opening scenes, through the war, and the first few days Kovic returns home, are all wonderfully constructed, considered, and executed to produce an emotionally painful experience that is all too memorable. It is unfortunate, then, that the story did not retain its emotional forcefulness all the way through. The scenes in Mexico and correlated "hitting rock bottom" scenes felt forced and painfully evoked with no real context of the story. (There, apparently, was a whorehouse in Mexico that catered ONLY to vets who were paralyzed from the chest down, thus all having the same problem in effectively... well, you know.).

In telling someone's 'real' story, I'm aware scenes like this seem almost essential to telling the story fairly, but with this particular story, the movie as a whole did not benefit from it.

Tom Cruise ranks quite low on my list of favorable actors, and I don't particularly care for any movie he has ever fronted. His performance in Anderson's 'Magnolia' will never ever be equaled, but this particular performance is a close second. The story, direction, and (wonderfully composed) music by John Williams, are all great for 1989, but the plot seemed to run out of steam.

Patriotism is, hands down, the most important tool needed to fight a war, especially one that not everyone is directly affected by. It can be argued that the same is presently occuring in the middle east, but the American people as a whole have completely lost interest in fighting terrorists half a world away. This film challenges patriotism, albeit melodramatically, but a challenge is made regardless.