Born on the Fourth of July

Will Tom Cruise win an Oscar for "Born on the Fourth of July"? Hard to say, but he will certainly be nominated. And rightfully so.

After playing solid roles in "Rain Man" and "The Color of Money," and helping Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman, respectively, win Oscars for their roles in those films, it's about time Cruise went solo to show what he can do in a respectable property.

And he's more than up to the task in the grueling, wrenching role of paralyzed veteran Ron Kovic, a flag-waving American Marine who was injured in Vietnam and found his life and ideals changed forever. (Kovic co-scripted this film from his own autobiography.)

"Born on the Fourth of July" is a tough film, a hard-edged look at how America changed during the '50s, '60s and '70s, told from the viewpoint of one young man who found many of his choices taken away.

And as directed and co-written by "Platoon" Oscar-winner Oliver Stone, "Born on the Fourth of July" is busy and gritty, angry and biased. Whether or not you agree with its politics, and it's sure to spark some debate, there's no denying the film's power. Stone's graphic directorial style is sometimes crude and more shrill than persuasive, but it will move you. (The film is deservedly rated R for depictions of violence and sex, as well as considerable profanity, vulgarity, drug use and some nudity).

Kovic is profiled from his childhood as a gung-ho small-town boy who grew up believing that time in the service "fighting for your country" was a natural part of growing up. It is the mid-'60s when he joins the Marines despite his friends' cajoling as they begin to be touched by some of the anti-war sentiment that would mark the era.

There is a great deal of time spent here in setting up the small-town Americana atmosphere that shaped Kovic's youth — his participation on his high school wrestling team, his love for a hometown girl (Kyra Sedgwick), his close relationship with his large Catholic family, his belief in God and country and his general active love of life.

Then, after enlisting right out of high school, he is shown in Vietnam, fighting during his second tour. Kovic is a participant in a tragic shooting incident which leads to an even more traumatic event for Kovic himself. And then he is struck down by a barrage of bullets.

The sequence in Vietnam is actually quite short, however, and the bulk of the film is spent on his rehabilitation — physically and then emotionally.

Kovic finds himself in a hospital portrayed as a rat-infested hellhole where he gradually regains some of his strength but also finds he is paralyzed from the mid-chest down and is told he'll never walk again. And the audience is left with no doubts about how difficult life is for a paraplegic.