Richard Gere is more compelling than usual in this violent, jumbled, but partially effective police story. Though the pacing is often lethargic and the film's look indifferent, the characters are psychologically interesting, and the story has possibilities if it could have been placed in the hands of a stronger director.
"Glory" (3 stars)
A glorious, if somewhat incomplete, history lesson of America's first black military regiment. Matthew Broderick as the young regimental commander shines under Edward Zwick's exquisite direction, but the black recruits' stories are strangely given short shrift. No matter. This is an inspired and emotional experience.
"Sex, Lies, and Videotape"
(2 1/2 stars)
Unusual, fairly involving look at an interloper's effect on an unsatisfactory love triangle. Perceptive at times, but also overly arty, overly talky, and in need of more substance. Distinctive direction by Steven Soderbergh.
"Lawrence of Arabia"
(3 1/2 stars)
David Lean's 1962 epic biography of one of this century's most enigmatic leaders is ponderously beautiful. The film has been reedited, color enhanced, and Dolbyized. Still, its overlength and its lack of a clear vision about its subject detract from its many virtues.
"Sea of Love" (3 stars)
Al Pacino returns to familiar territory as a New York homicide detective on the trail of a passionate killer. A prosaic mystery with outstanding atmosphere and some good performances, ably helmed by Albert Becker.
"In Country" (3 1/2 stars)
Norman Jewison directs this highly emotional, skillfully depicted drama of two
generations coming to grips with the Vietnam experience. Bruce Willis is very fine, but Emily Lloyd as the daughter of a deceased veteran gives a masterful performance.
"A Dry White Season"
(4 stars)
An absorbing and chilling story of racial problems in South Africa during 1976 is brought thunderingly home by stirring performances, taut
direction, and an unyielding viewpoint toward the injustice of Apartheid.
"Fat Man and Little Boy"
(3 stars)
Moderately interesting docudrama about the behind the scenes maneuverings to get the first atomic bomb built. Paul Newman huffs and puffs dully in the lead, and director Roland Joffe has trouble juggling the many intrinsic levels of his story.
"Back to the Future Part 2"
(2 stars)
Dazzling special effects and creative split screen photography aren't enough to mask the humorless, frantic nature of this squeamish
sequel. Noisy, cold, and dark, the movie most of all lacks a sense of fun.
"The War of the Roses"
(2 1/2 stars)
Extremely dark comedy of the last month of a couple's disintegrating marriage. Stars Michael Douglas and particularly Kathleen Turner are sporting, but the wild antics are spasmodic, and the direction of Danny DeVito only works fitfully.
"Always" (3 stars)
Characteristic Steven Spielberg sentimentality that's also quite entertaining. This remake of the 1943 fantasy "A Guy Named Joe" features better performances from a cast comfortable with each other and enough whimsy to feed a dozen sugar plum fairies. While the movie will play better than the original for modern audiences, it isn't the director's best work.
"Family Business" (2 stars)
Sidney Lumet dully directs three powerhouse actors (Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick) in an indifferent story of three generations of thieves attempting to pull off a million dollar caper. The casting is ludicrous which drags down the entire enterprise.
"Shirley Valentine"
(3 1/2 stars)
Captivating comedy of a bored British housewife learning to love life and herself again. This impeccably acted, beautifully made movie is a wistful, bracing experience for anyone who feels a bit over the hill.
"Crimes and Misdemeanors"
(3 stars)
Woody Allen's latest film is a darkly comic look at the manners and mores of prosperous America. Unlike his last two dramas, there is
some comedy here, but it's tinged with bitterness and angst.
"Steel Magnolias" (3 stars)
Entertaining, episodic comedy-drama as six Southern women interact with one another in wonderfully supporting and bitchy fashion. Smooth direction by Herbert Ross; exceptional work from Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Sally Field.
-- part contents for card part 1
----- text -----
Yankee Doodle Isn't Dandy
If Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" had no other virtues - and it has a great many - it would be an important cinematic document of a period in American history when many young people seemed desperately to care about what was going on in their country and their world. Stone has eerily captured the look, the feel, and the emotion of that turbulent time (circa 1968-72) in a movie that's strong stuff for those who lived through it, and devastating to those whose main ambitions now seem to be tied to name brand buying and cost conscious calorie counting.
Oliver Stone's screenplay is based on the memoirs of paraplegic Vietnam veteran and activist Ron Kovic. Kovic also assisted with the writing of the screenplay. It begins with his apple pie childhood complete with the loving and God-fearing parents, the ambitions for greatness stamped into the boy's mind, and the constant pressurized striving for a goal. Winning is everything, he's taught, and it's a lesson that haunts him continually for the next couple of decades of his life.
The script, though, is ramblingly
episodic in telling Kovic's story. Stone has never been a strong writer (he's much stronger dealing with a film's visual language than with its spoken one), and the movie's lack of rhythm and pacing struck me as injudiciously weak.
We jump from a high school
wrestling match to the prom, to hellish Vietnam, then a squalid vet hospital, and home with the inevitable problems that causes. Later it's a too-long jaunt to Mexico and then back home for some harrowing documentary- style footage of organized and disorganized antiwar protesting.
Tom Cruise has never been better playing the idealistic paean of the American way who learns bitterly the lessons of real life. He has never had a more challenging part that demanded equal doses of youth and age, of anguish and pride, and of arrogance and humility. He gives a stunning
performance.
With the spotlight almost always on Cruise as Kovic, there are only isolated opportunities for others to shine. Caroline Kava and especially Raymond
Barry make excellent parents: demanding, loving, but only moderately understanding. Josh Evans gets a moment or two to sparkle as the younger brother who comes to a parting of the ways with his adored older brother.
But the supporting performance to
savor here is Willem Dafoe as Charlie, a fellow Vietnam paraplegic who has fashioned a besotted peace for himself in Mexico. Dafoe's scenes are in probably the film's weakest sequence, and
yet he makes them crackle with the
special brand of electricity he has
generated in other films, particularly Stone's Oscar-winning Platoon and Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ.
One of the more disappointing
aspects of this fine picture is that
despite having Kovic on board as a
screenwriter and technical advisor, we never feel completely satisfied at Kovic's transformation from hawk to dove. It happens off-camera almost and doesn't seem narratively grounded to
the story shown to us. There seems to be a scene or two missing.
Stone's real claim to fame here,
however, is his handling of the student protests against the Vietnam War, the disruptions of the Republican National
Convention of 1972, and Kovic's predestined speech at the 1976 Democratic Convention. The documentary news footage mixed in with the newly staged scenes is wonderfully dovetailed (no pun intended) into a seamless whole. And Robert Richardson's extremely jiggly camera, somewhat distracting during the Vietnam scenes and woefully out of place in the veteran's hospital sequences, finally seems properly placed in these anxious moments.
Born on the Fourth of July is 144
minutes of painful storytelling. It commands one's attention and respect no matter what one's opinions of its
politics are.
On a four star scale, this film would
rate three stars.
•Matt Hough has been reviewing movies in various media since 1968. For 11 years, he was the film writer for the Tri-County Syndicate of South Carolina. His film reviews have also appeared in, among other publications, The Dallas Sun, the Music Gazette, BoxOffice, The Millionaire, and Q-Notes. He is now Hardcopy's film reviewer and industry analyst.
 (January 1993).iso/Files/Hyper/H-Hx/HardCopy.cpt/HARDCOPY FOR THE COMMON GOOD/card_13227_render.png){kind=link}
 (January 1993).iso/Files/Hyper/H-Hx/HardCopy.cpt/HARDCOPY FOR THE COMMON GOOD/card_13818_render.png){kind=link}