Born on the Fourth of July

You know, I've always had a love hate relationship (Gosh, what a fancy word, we never met ) with Tom Cruise. On the one side, he comes off as this cocky, arrogant actor. On the other hand, he is capable of great of acting. I still get the chills when I watch Top Gun, and I found his role in Jerry MacGuire symphatetic as well.

For those who have not whatched this movie, the section below contains spoilers. So be warned.

But take born on the fourth of July. I watched it for the second time just now, and I get the feeling... Isn't it a tad overdone??? The movie just rubs me wrong I guess. I realize Vietnam Veterans have suffered unreasonably much, actually, most soldiers fighting overseas wars suffer much, both there and back at home. But I found it all so... obvious. Given the subject matter, the way the movie unfolds hardly surprised me.
An idealist, goes to Nam, gets shot, becomes an invalid. Goes back home, at first he still feels he did the right thing, but then when he finds what only can be described as a severe lack of sympathy at home he becomes depressed, a drunk. Haunted by nightmares of a traumatic event in the war, until he finally decides to confront his issues. In the beginning, mom tells him that she sees him speaking to a large crowd about impoirtant issues when he is grown up, and so, having become a fervent anti-war demonstrant, he proves her right at the end of the movie.
The tone is grim of course, but that is to be expected given the type of movie. Perhaps a bit of humor at times could have been inserted.
Does anybody else feel this way about the movie?