Fresh
Tom Cruise, who takes Kovic from clean-cut eager teen to impassioned long-haired activist, is stunning.
Variety Staff, Variety
Born on the Fourth of July
A true story of innocence lost and courage found.
1989 · 2h 25m · R
Drama, War
Directed by
Oliver Stone
Overview
Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Director and cast
- Oliver Stone Director
- Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic
- Raymond J. Barry as Mr. Kovic
- Caroline Kava as Mrs. Kovic
- Kyra Sedgwick as Donna
- Willem Dafoe as Charlie
- Tom Berenger as Recruiting Gunnery Sgt. Hayes
- Jerry Levine as Steve Boyer
- Stephen Baldwin as Billy Vorsovich
- Josh Evans as Tommy Kovic
- Rob Camilletti as Tommy Finnelli
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
84%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Born on the Fourth of July is...the most ambitious nondocumentary film yet made about the entire Vietnam experience.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Fresh
Stone has found in Cruise the ideal actor to anchor the movie with simplicity and strength.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Rotten
This is an impassioned movie, made with conviction and evangelical verve. It's also hysterical and overbearing and alienating.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Rotten
Stone has created a film whose overblown parts add up to far less than the epic whole he had in mind.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
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