Born on the Fourth of July film review

Review

Cast & crew

Born on the Fourth of July

(1989)

Director Oliver Stone continued his Vietnam trilogy with this biographical drama, a masterpiece of film-making that occupies a much broader canvas than its predecessor, Platoon. It stars Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic, the all-American boy who enlists in the marines because he loves his country. The Stars and Stripes flies proudly in his home town. Then he is hideously wounded, endures the rat-infested hell of a veterans' hospital and comes home to find the Stars and Stripes being burned in the streets. He drops out and goes to Mexico, then returns to America to conduct an antiwar campaign from his wheelchair. The story is based on the autobiography of Kovic and Stone himself did two tours of duty in Vietnam, and the movie fairly reeks of their experience and regret. Stone had won the director's Oscar for Platoon and he won it again for his powerful work here. Sadly, Cruise had to settle for a nomination, but his transformation from golden boy to ravaged and embittered paraplegic is utterly convincing. AT

Contains violence, sex scenes, swearing, nudity.

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Running time

138min

Country of origin

Genre

Biographical Drama

Original language

English

Screenplay

Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic, from Ron Kovic's autobiography

Theatrical distributor

U.I.P. (UK)

UK cinema certificate




awards information


	Award	Category	Name	Nominee/Winner

	Academy 1989	Actor in a Leading Role	Tom Cruise	Nominee
	Academy 1989	Best Picture		Nominee
	Academy 1989	Directing	Oliver Stone	Winner
	Academy 1989	Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)	Oliver Stone	Nominee
	Academy 1989	Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)	Ron Kovic	Nominee
	BAFTA 1990	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Tom Cruise	Nominee
	BAFTA 1990	Best Screenplay (Adapted)	Oliver Stone	Nominee
	BAFTA 1990	Best Screenplay (Adapted)	Ron Kovic	Nominee
	Golden Globe 1989	Best Director Motion Picture	Oliver Stone	Winner
	Golden Globe 1989	Best Motion Picture Drama		Winner
	Golden Globe 1989	Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama	Tom Cruise	Winner
	Golden Globe 1989	Best Screenplay Motion Picture	Oliver Stone	Winner
	Golden Globe 1989	Best Screenplay Motion Picture	Ron Kovic	Winner