All the Right Moves (1983)

Let's be realistic.

Dreadfully Boring

A different way of telling a story

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Continuing my plan to watch every Tom Cruise movie in order, I come to to his third and final movie of 1983, All The Right Moves.Plot In A Paragraph: A high school football player (Cruise) desperate for a scholarship and his headstrong coach clash in a dying Pennsylvania steel town.Like with Risky Business, this is another movie that I don't get people's love for. I find it watchable, and nothing more. Cruise is OK, everyone's favourite TV coach, Craig T Nelson is his usual reliable self, and Leah Thompson (who shares the most unsexy and uncomfortable life scene I have ever witnessed) looks cute, but doesn't really bring much. One plus is, it has a decent rock soundtrack, which is usually listed first in the end credits with each song stating what scene it was played it. This was the first movie Tom Cruise's name appeared above the movie title on a poster.All The Right Moves grossed $17 million at the domestic box office, to end the year the 42nd highest grossing movie of 1983.

All the Right Moves (1983) *** (out of 4) Nice slice-of-life drama about a high school football player (Tom Cruise) living in a small PA town where there's not much hope for a future except for getting a scholarship. He eventually gets thrown off the team by his coach (Craig T. Nelson) and soon realizes that his entire life might have just got thrown away. Even though the story is quite predictable, this is still a pretty entertaining little movie that actually has a lot more grit than you might expect. Cruise was still wet behind the ears and he certainly doesn't give a great performance but I thought he handled the role of this poor kid trying to get out of a failed life pretty well. Cruise certainly faired a lot better during some of the more dramatic scenes and his relationship with Lea Thompson, who plays his girlfriend here, was quite good as well. Thompson comes off very natural here and it really does feel like they were playing a real couple going through real problems. Chris Penn is also pretty good in his small supporting role. The film belongs to Nelson though and it's a real shame that he didn't have more screen time as he and Cruise work extremely well together and for my money the heart of the story was in their relationship yet for some reason it's not explored as deep as it should have been. The ending is quite predictable and you'll see it coming from a mile away but it was still touching in its own right. Director Chapman really doesn't shy away from many of the subjects and I thought it fairly looked at life in a small town via kids not wanting to turn out like their parents and how the majority of them are given up for dead even before they're out of school. The film contains a nice bit of drama from start to finish and it's certainly worth viewing even if it's not one of the greatest sports movies out there.

"The only way football star Stefen Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) will avoid a life in the blast furnaces of his bleak Pennsylvania hometown is by winning a college scholarship. Even his coach (Craig T. Nelson) dreams of parlaying a winning team into a college job far away from this graveyard of the American Dream. But it's not long before the two virtually ruin each other's chances for escape and their door to the future starts to close. Lea Thompson and Christopher Penn co-star," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Mr. Cruise is back in high school, after his successful "Risky Business" - still playing at a theater near you! in 1983. Cruise looks the part of a bulked-up football player. He and Ms. Thompson (as Lisa Litski) have a sexy nude scene. The supporting cast, including skinny Chris Penn (as Brian), perform noticeably well. And, it's nice to see Gary ("Alien Nation") Graham in an early role. The story is mildly engrossing. How Paul Carafotes (as Vinnie Salvucci) made his desk rise, in those tight jeans, is debatable.***** All the Right Moves (10/21/83) Michael Chapman ~ Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn

The most noteworthy thing about this movie, and probably the only reason why it's still around, is that it has Tom Cruise in one of his earliest starring roles. Aside from that, there isn't really much to it. It's not bad I guess, but it's just all so plain and mediocre except for some of the acting. This script is one of the most predictable things ever written and just hums by with no surprises of any sort. You can't bring a lot of variation within the formula of a small town drama, but for the love of God, try a little. Often it just really needs to get to the point, because things get pretty boring if you already know the ending an hour beforehand. The raw, realistic filming style of the movie is in fact pretty good and really expresses desperation, but it just doesn't make the story any more interesting. As far as very young Tom Cruise goes, it's "Risky Business" all the way.