MOVIE · 1989
Born on the Fourth of July
DramaWar145 min
Ron Kovic grows up in suburban New York with a fierce belief in patriotism, then comes home from Vietnam paralyzed and estranged from the country he thought he was serving. Tom Cruise is Kovic, charted from 1950s boyhood through the upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s as hospital wards, bars, protests, and TV-era politics reshape his life. Kyra Sedgwick is among the people in his orbit as he moves from wounded Marine to anti-war and human-rights activist. Directed by Oliver Stone, the film keeps Kovic’s personal story tied closely to the Vietnam War and the America that sent him there.
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