Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) is a small-town high school student during the mid-1960s. Anxious to serve his country, he joins the Marines, and soon finds himself in Vietnam. A series of devastating experiences follows: he takes part in a massacre of innocent villagers, he accidentally kills another Marine, he himself is shot and paralyzed from the chest down, his recovery is at a wretched Veteran's hospital.

Kovic returns to his hometown and is welcomed as a war hero. But he soon becomes bitter over his handicap, and looks for targets for his resentment. At first he subjects his family to tirades against draft protestors, but later decides that the government is to blame, and that the Vietnam War is wrong. Evicted by his own parents, Kovic tries to find his place in Mexico, but his inner demons follow him there.

"Born on the Fourth of July" improves as it moves along. Early scenes with Kovic in high school don't completely work, as the actors are ten years too old for their roles. Kovic's stint in boot camp is bypassed, and his service in Vietnam is a blur, depicted as only a handful of scenes. The film begins to find its identity in its second hour, with Kovic in a miserable Veteran's hospital. Kovic's character becomes more clear, and he is shown as something more than just a naive patriot. The depiction of the hospital as a hell-hole with rats, indifferent staff and broken equipment is effectively chilling.

The film becomes still better after Kovic's return home. His disillusionment with the War and the government changes his character, and causes conflicts with his deeply conservative parents. His parents (Carolyn Kava and Josh Evans) are well portrayed, and their clothes and hairstyles are a perfect fit for the era.

"Born on the Fourth of July" does leave a few loose ends. Donna (Kyra Sedgwick) vanishes after a Vietnam war demonstration, and after building up Kovic's speech at 1976 Democratic Convention, we don't get to see it. We also don't know whether Kovic ever reconciled with his parents.

Still, an excellent if painful-to-watch film. This was Oliver Stone's second film to earn him an Oscar for Best Director, the other also dealing with Vietnam, "Platoon". But "Born on the Fourth of July" covers new ground by concentrating on the postwar effect of a paralyzed veteran. The film was nominated for "Best Picture", "Best Writing" and "Best Actor" (Cruise).