I believe my reaction when I saw that Born on the Fourth of July was next in my queue of Tom Cruise movies was “eeeuuuuwwurgh.”

I do not like Oliver Stone. I do not like war movies. I do not like biopics. So I figured I was in for a slog.

My problem was Oliver Stone is that he is a master of non-subtlety. When Tom Cruise’s character Ron Kovic is feeling disoriented, Stone’s camera starts flailing around like it’s outside of a car dealership. Kovic is haunted by the horrible moments he experienced during the Vietnam war, so we get to see and hear those moments over and over again.

I find this kind of filmmaking insulting; I feel like the director is watching the movie over my shoulder and pointing out all of the moments of homage, imagery, and reference because I’m clearly not smart enough to enjoy the movie on my own.

This is a true story based on Ron Kovic’s autobiography. We see Kovic growing up on Long Island, NY, then enlisting for the marines and getting paralyzed in Vietnam. The first half of the movie is full of suffering and cliches. Then Kovic returns home and the movie slows down. He slowly changes from an outspoken proponent of the war to a leader of the movement against it. This part of the story is tolerable. It’s even interesting! I don’t know why I had to watch the first hour to get to this part.

I suppose you could argue that Kovic’s journey and transformation are an allegory for the evolution of American ideals and culture. Kovic is literally born on the fourth of July, for God’s sake. He lives an idyllic life of masculinity and willing and religion. And he slowly realizes simultaneously that the world is much more complicated than he thought it was and that the people who think the pastoral dream is true don’t want to confront the truth about America.

Okay? Fine. I admit it. There was some craftsmanship employed in making this movie. I don’t have to like it.

And Tom? Well…

There’s another Tom Cruise movie that we’ll get to eventually called “Tropic Thunder.” Ben Stiller’s character in that movie could be seen as parodying Cruise’s career. If that’s true, then “Born on the Fourth of July” is Cruise’s “Simple Jack.”

He really lays it on the line. He screams and spits and abandons his trademark handsomeness in favor of an ugly, overgrown mustache, a mullet, and the inability to walk. And the performance lacks the nuance and personality that makes Tom great in Risky Business and in Rain Man.

I guess he had to get a movie like this out of his system so he could realize that he isn’t Daniel Day Lewis. The intense connection to reality is what makes Cruise watchable and engaging, and even though this movie is based on a true story, Cruise is unable to make such an unlikable character seem real. The journeyman relevance of this movie in Cruise’s career makes it forgivable, but don’t watch it.

I think this movie also marks the end of the second phase of Cruise’s career. If 1981-1985 were the Pre-Maverick years, that is, the years before he became a huge star, then 1986-1989 are the experimental years, where Cruise tested the waters of a variety of roles of movie stardom.

It’s not that he stopped experimenting after that, but something changed in 1990. And it wasn’t the release of Wilson Phillips’ self-titled debut album.

In 1990, Cruise starred in his first movie with Nicole Kidman.

Next: Days of Thunder