SHORT TAKES : Skeptical Kovic Sold on Film

Times have mellowed for Ron Kovic, the former Marine paraplegic warrior whose life is depicted by Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July.”

Once the angry man who rallied the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Kovic is now occupying himself with art and other creative undertakings. He co-authored the script for the autobiographical film with director Oliver Stone.

The movie, which opens this week, outlines Kovic’s nightmarish passage from all-American boy and superpatriotic soldier to wheelchair activist against the war.

In a recent interview, he described his joy that Stone, an old friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, undertook the task of bringing his life story to film.

Stone’s film “Platoon” won four Oscars, including best picture in 1986.

“I knew he could have done anything he wanted to do,” Kovic said of Stone. “He was the biggest director in Hollywood, at that time, in the world.”

Kovic, 43, said he was at first skeptical about Cruise. Now, he says he is astonished at the superstar’s performance.

“Many people wondered, ‘Could Tom Cruise do it? Could he pull it off?’ ” Kovic said. “When he did, it was just so exhilarating.”