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From: blekko!skrenta@cbmvax.commodore.com (Rich Skrenta)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
Summary: r.a.m.r. #00703
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Date: 19 Jan 90 12:48:06 GMT
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		       BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
                     A film review by Rich Skrenta
                     Copyright 1990 by Rich Skrenta

     I just saw BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.  I can't find fault with any of the
film's messages.  Its scenes held together okay.  Technically it was fine.

     However, I did not find the film entertaining, and it did not emotionally
involve me very much.  It seemed to be more of a collage of scenes from the era
than a story.  The film's one message -- that the Vietnam war was a mistake --
was beaten until it was dead.  I kept waiting for something to *happen*.  For
the development of any one of the other characters.  His brother.  Charlie in
Mexico.  His father.  His high school sweetheart.  One of his friends.

     Unfortunately, Ron was the only character who we see throughout the film.
His character development consisted of his change from blind patriotism to his
disillusionment with the government.  Very simple, we see it coming, it's no
big surprise when it happens.

     I haven't read the book the movie's based on; perhaps they follow it
faithfully, which I suppose is a good thing.  However, there's a couple of
things I would like to have seen in the movie:

	-  It would have been nice to see his vocal denouncement of
	   the war have an effect on somebody.  Anybody.  He repeats his
	   speech many times:  in the bar, to his parents, to an anonymous
	   reporter.  However, we don't see a single effect from his
	   words.

	-  Ron was the only character that received any development in
	   the film.  I would like to have seen a more complex change
	   take place in him than the binary switch from Yes-I-Like-My-
	   Country to No-I-Think-the-War-is-Wrong.

	-  I thought the scene in the Wilsons (?--the parents of the
	   American soldier he shot) living room was distressingly
	   shallow.  I was expecting him to realize that perhaps his
	   CO wasn't an evil monster for not telling the boy's parents
	   the truth.  Why did he have to shatter the story of their
	   son's death?  Was it necessary?  Perhaps it was, but I was
	   upset that Ron didn't even consider that perhaps he was doing
	   the wrong thing by telling them.

     Individually, I thought the scenes were well done and powerful.  However,
I wish they would have been tied together into a stronger story.  The film came
off as little more than highlight's of Ron's life and the Vietnam era.  I left
the theater with the feeling that I'd already seen the whole movie in the
preview and the video on MTV.  I wish it would have had a more complex message.

Rich