Biographical portrayal of a US Marine who became a prominent anti-war activist after he returned from Vietnam in a wheelchair.
In the mid 1960s, suburban New York teenager Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) enlists in the Marines, fulfilling what he sees as his patriotic duty. During his second tour in Vietnam, he accidentally kills a fellow soldier during a retreat and later becomes permanently paralyzed in battle. Returning home to an uncaring Veterans Administration bureaucracy and to people on both sides of the political divide who don’t understand what he went through, Kovic becomes an impassioned critic of the war.
The film was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture, winning two for editing and direction.
84% at Rotten Tomatoes
7.2 at IMDb
The real Ron Kovic is still alive. He released a new book in 2024: “A Dangerous Country: An American Elegy.” He lives in Redondo Beach, California, where he writes, paints, plays the piano, and gardens. He will turn 80 when the country turns 250, on the next 4th of July.
One of Tom Cruise’s best if not the best performance.
Wow, nostalgia. This was the first time I ever saw a naked woman on the silver screen. My mom took my sister and I to see the film when it came out and I don’t think she knew what she was getting us into. I guess I was about 11 and I understood neither this scene nor the tingling sensation in my trousers.
Unlike my mom, my dad knew exactly what the score was a few years later when he took me to see to see Sirens. And, well, by then I’d learned what the tingling was at least.