Born on the Fourth of July details the true story of Ron Kovic, a veteran returning to daily life after being paralyzed in the Vietnam war. The film goes through his struggle coping with his new life and how everything and everybody has been impacted by the politics surrounding the war.
Throughout the movie, we see the evolution of Kovic's thinking, as he changes from being pro-war to anti-war, after seeing how horrific everything in his life has become.
The pacing of this film is decent. There are definitely points that did not feel as important as others and definitely feels more amped up then they probably were in real life. However, it didn't feel lacklustre.
As for Tom Cruise's acting... it was alright. Tom Cruise is a great actor who has had some amazing roles where he really plays the character well. In this movie, it didn't feel the same. Considering this is still one of his earlier roles, he should be cut some slack. The main problem was there wasn't enough believable emotion when he wanted his character to seem angry or sad. Changing the tone and volume of your voice isn't enough to sell it.
The ending was alright. It definitely made Kovic look like the guy they wanted him to go for. That being brave and heroic. Although the political convention at the end should have been fleshed out a little bit better it was still a meaningful art to the story.
Overall, this was a good movie and even though it wasn't something that seemed like it could take the world by storm, it was still a good watch. I was having a bit of a tricky time deciding on the rating but in the end I give it a 7/10.
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