'Born on the Fourth of July'

Vietnam vet Oliver Stone spent three movies exorcising his war demons. This one, the second of his trilogy, tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise, who earned an Oscar nod), who left a gung-ho soldier, returned an embittered paraplegic, and finally channeled his rage into antiwar activism. The canny casting of the 'Top Gun' star makes the journey a lot more sympathetic.