Angry and unpleasant, Cruise is genuinely outstanding as Ron Kovic in
this big, bold, sadly patchy biopic. It's often confusing in the sprawl
of its political observations, and much stronger when focusing on the
indignities of Kovic's paralysed condition and the nightmare of his
front-line recollections. Touchingly vulgar and humane much of the
time, particularly in the scenes between Cruise and Dafoe's similarly
embittered wheelchair vet, it gives in to stirring Spielbergisms when
there's something important to say. To that end, John Williams
contributes one of his most sentimentally heroic scores - a better one
than most.
