Review of Born on the Fourth of July (1989) by Paul D — 15 Oct 2017

Great filmmaking, storytelling, and acting abound in this film of Ron Kovic's life story. It begins in placid suburban 50s New York when the teenaged Kovic enlisted in the Marines out of blind patriotism, proceeds to Vietnam where his dreams of war glory become village massacres and friendly-fire accidents.

Next up is his gruelling rehabilitation when a bullet paralyzes him from the chest down. Then he goes back to his small town to find it much different under his maturing gaze. He rethinks the war and gets involved in politics, desperately protesting what he has concluded is a wrong-headed war and a political leadership that is corrupt to the core.

This film is full of moving imagery, dense characterization, and a riveting story about different definitions of patriotism and myriad ways to "serve your country." I loved the way it showed Kovic go from a conventional flag-waving patriot to a protest marcher while showing that in each one of these opposing registers he was in fact just as patriotic as in the other.

It really makes you look hard at the sort of dialectic of patriotism where flag-waving and flag-burning both represent a kind of heart-feeling that is equivalent. Great John Williams score too.