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Talk To Her -> TC Works -> 1989 [Born on the 4th of July]
Post Info TOPIC: 1989 [Born on the 4th of July]
juliezhou

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1989 [Born on the 4th of July]
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The movie scene that gave Tom Cruise an “emotional orgasm”

Arun Starkey

Sun 12 November 2023 19:15, UK

Throughout his career, Tom Cruise has played a role in almost every film genre under the sun. From high-octane action thrillers to romantic dramas, the American actor has resoundingly shown that there is no realm of cinema that he is afraid of trying his hand at.

Famous for the eye-watering amount of blockbusters he has helped push to box office success, these films only represent the tip of the iceberg for the colourful actor, given that he has also starred in classics such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s heartbreaking epic Magnolia. In the film, Cruise plays the outlandish motivational speaker and pick-up artist Frank T.J. Mackey in what is undoubtedly one of his ultimate highlights.

Elsewhere, the likes of Rain Man, Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut and Interview with the Vampire also demonstrate the broad reach of Cruise’s talent. An unwavering performer, when he’s not scaling iconic landmarks or engaging in explosive shoot-outs for the Mission: Impossible franchise, Cruise’s dramatism has the power to be incredibly emotionally affecting.

One of his most profound performances in this vein came in the second instalment in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War trilogy Born on the Fourth of July. In the 1989 movie, Cruise plays real-life Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, whose autobiography served as its basis. The film follows Kovic’s life over 20 years, charting his childhood, segue into the armed forces, and paralysis during the bloody conflict which left him paralysed and wheelchair-bound. After witnessing the brutal reality of war first-hand, Kovic then became a prominent anti-war activist.

Notably, producer Martin Bregman first acquired the film rights to the book in 1976 and hired Stone, himself a Vietnam veteran, to co-write the screenplay with Kovic. At the time, Al Pacino was due to play the activist. However, after Stone optioned the book in 1978, the project was stuck in development hell with Pacino and Bregman departing. This resulted in him and Kovic shelving the plans. However, following the release of the first instalment in Stone’s trilogy, 1986’s Platoon, Universal revived it, and Stone became director. Then, one of the biggest stars of the day, Tom Cruise, was hired.

Unsurprisingly, Cruise gave it all to the movie. When filming a sex scene involving Kovic and a sex worker, Cruise revealed to Rolling Stone in 1990 that he started to cry. He described the feeling that overcame him as an “emotional orgasm”.

The actor explained: “I remember doing the scene and just letting go, and that’s when I started crying. That wasn’t written in the script. That’s when we got the whole thing. Paraplegics talk about almost an emotional orgasm that they feel.”

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-movie-scene-that-gave-tom-cruise-an-emotional-orgasm/



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juliezhou

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Tom Cruisemakes a bid for serious acting cred, complete with lank hair and a beard, as real-life Viet-VetRon Kovic, who led opposition to the Vietnam War after being paralysed from the waist down.

The movie was made atLos Colinas StudiosinDallas,Texas, and bothKovic’s neighbourhood of ‘Massapequa, Long Island‘, and the ‘Miami’ scenes were filmed around theDallasarea. The ‘Vietnam’ scenes filmed in thePhilippines.

The Kovics’ ‘Long Island’ home is onCreekside Drive, off Houghton Road in thePiedmont Addition, southwestDallasnear the Hawn Freeway.

Young Ron’s high school isMargaret Henderson Elementary School, 2200 South Edgefield Avenue, ElmwoodinDallas.

After the killings at ‘Kent State University’, Abbie Hoffman leads protests atDallas Hall, home ofDedman College, Boaz Laneoff Daniel Avenue, on the campus ofSouthern Methodist University,University Park.

The ‘Chicago Convention Center’ is theDallas Convention Center, 650 South Griffin Street.



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juliezhou

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Even though he has four Academy Awards in his trophy cabinet, Oliver Stone remains aggrieved that he failed to direct Tom Cruise to one of his own, believing the actor deserved the most prestigious accolade the industry had to offer.

By the time Born on the Fourth of July was released in December 1989, Cruise was already a certified A-lister, but it was his transformative and immersive turn as Ron Kovic in the biographical anti-war drama that turned a lot of heads and indicated there was an incredible dramatic performer underneath the megawatt grin, natural charisma, and box office drawing power.

The film was nominated for eight Oscars in total C with Stone winning the ‘Best Director’ trophy while David Brenner and Joe Hutshing shared the prize for ‘Best Editing’ C but the filmmaker maintains the conviction that nefarious machinations robbed his leading man of the ‘Best Actor’ gong.

It was Cruise’s first-ever nomination, and he found himself as part of a stacked field that included Henry V‘s Kenneth Branagh, Driving Miss Daisy‘s Morgan Freeman, Dead Poets Society‘s Robin Williams, and My Left Foot‘s Daniel Day-Lewis.

While it’s difficult to argue that the latter didn’t deserve the ‘Best Actor’ statue for another fiercely committed method performance as Christy Brown, Stone nonetheless insisted that Harvey Weinstein may have been the deciding factor in Cruise’s incredible work in Born on the Fourth of July being overlooked.

“I think he robbed Cruise of the Oscar, frankly,” Stone said to The Independent of the intense campaigning and lobbying that saw Weinstein’s Miramax throw around its financial clout to push Day-Lewis to the forefront of the Academy’s consideration.

The Weinstein-backed company gained no small amount of notoriety for its relentless awards season campaigning that regularly resulted in major upsets at the Oscars, with the most prominent example coming when Miramax’s Shakespeare in Love beat Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan to scoop ‘Best Picture’ to the surprise of almost everybody in Hollywood.

As Stone would acknowledge, though, “The press loved him. Don’t forget, they loved him in the 1990s,” intimating that Weinstein’s penchant for schmoozing the right people at the right time often gave him an advantage right when the Oscars race was starting to heat up.

An Oscar is the only major accolade missing from Cruise’s distinguished career, with further nominations for Jerry Maguire and Magnolia C as well as a ‘Best Picture’ nod for producing Top Gun: Maverick C continuing to paint it as the one that keeps on getting away.

Born on the Fourth of July still arguably endures as his single finest performative work of cinema, and as much as Day-Lewis is one of the all-time greats who was typically excellent in My Left Foot, Stone harbours the sentiment that politics were in play.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/oliver-stone-on-how-harvey-weinstein-robbed-tom-cruise-of-an-oscar/



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1989 7.4 casting - All World's a Stage.jpg



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