L'esprit d'équipe

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.

Sports movies are often stuck in the same old clichéd formula, but more often than not, they work. To All the Right Moves credit, it doesn't follow that winning formula, but it also doesn't necessarily create its own well-strung story.

In one of his first acting roles, Tom Cruise stars alongside Craig T. Nelson and Lea Thompson as his coach and girlfriend respectively. If for nothing else, this film is worth a watch just for those performances alone. Cruise and Thompson prove to be fearless in their risqué high school roles, and Nelson plays a great antagonist and obstacle for Cruise's 'Stefen' character. I can't speak too highly on the film itself, but those performances are certainly worth 90 minutes of your time.

The biggest issue with All the Right Moves is that it actually tries to make too many 'moves' with its story, pun intended. It doesn't really know what it wants to be. On one hand, it's a nice coming of age story with Thompson and Cruise. The next it's an intense football drama between two schools. Or even a film that tackles the heavy themes of class struggle and sexuality, just to name a few. There's just no real focus here. The minute you start to get invested with what Nelson's team is doing, led by Cruise among others, it changes its course to another plot point entirely. I appreciate the film's intentions, it just didn't hit home the ideas that it set out to, and it suffers because of that.

What I can say is that this film was probably more of a product of its time. The soundtrack is blatantly filled with slow and smooth 80's tracks that can be distracting. The sound editing as a whole is pretty poor. The football sequences are borderline amateur. And some of the plot points have been done much better in more recent years. Sure, that's not the film's fault, but it does hinder its re-watchability to an extent. It's fun to watch a young Cruise and Thompson share great chemistry, but there's not a lot beneath that.

+Cruise shows promise

+Attempts to explore deep themes

-But fails at most of them

-Misguided direction

56/100

A few years ago, I bought the video version of All The Right Moves without having seen it before. I loved it! The characters kept my eyes glued to the screen for the whole 90 minutes.

I emphasized with Stef's internal struggle to rise above his surroundings. Stef, played by one of my fave actors Tom Cruise, is similar to his character Joel from Risky Business. Both Stef and Joel have high hopes for their futures and almost jeopardize them.

As with his character Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, Craig T. Nelson plays a football coach who is rough around the edges but has the capacity to redeem himself later.

Lea Thompson's Lisa has more value to the movie than just another girlfriend figure. She too has hopes for the future and feels cheated by the athlete-favored scholarship programs. When Stef verbally pushes her away, she doesn't immediately forgive him; she pulls him into her world first.

Nobody (so far) has mentioned the sound track; it's my favorite part of the movie. The songs do a superb job of setting the tone for the given scene. For example, when Stef is rounding second base with Lisa in the car, the bus ride to the big football game, the party, and the end credits. Sometimes, I watch ATRM just to hear "Blue Skies Forever," sung by Frankie Miller.

All the Right Moves is a good film to watch if you like high school football; are expecting an athletic scholarship; or if you don't like your coach. This movie paved the way for other football flicks like Varsity Blues. Look for it on The Family Channel or at used-movie stores.

Great movie! one of my favorites. All may not like it but for a regional boy this is exactly what western pa is. Small steel towns that have nothing left except their sporting pride. Kids wanting to escape and western Pa's beloved football is the only way out for many. These are the Western Pa. Archeotypes : Some kids love it but feel they can't make it any other way. Salvuchi

Some kids have the talent but need that extra exposure. But it all depends on how individuals in power like you. Stef

Kids with enough talent to get out of the town without added exposure. the receiver who went to West Virginia

The coach who thinks he is God of town if he has some success. Nelson

the disgruntled band student,"why do they get athletes deserve scholarship attitudes" Lea.

The movie nailed the sights and sounds. It showed how whole towns close on friday nights. The football scenes were great! Even besides the football it showed the tough steelman, the guys in towm that slave all day and go to the watering hole right after work before going home for the evening. It showed how serious we Western Pa's take our local sports, We really would trash a coaches yard and fight seventeen year olds if we think they cost the game. Gritty reality to small town life. An under appreciated film that captures a regions attitude and feel in our great Nation! Ampipe is Aliquippa,Duquesne, Johnstown, beaver falls clairton, McKeesport,monesson and the rest of the Mon and beaver Valleys that were created by the US Steel, J&L and Bethleham steel

Stef Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) lives in poor Pennsylvanian town Ampipe, a company town for American Pipe & Steel. He is the high school football star defensive back. He has his girlfriend Lisa Lietzke (Lea Thompson) and dreams of a college engineering scholarship. After a lost, Stef fights with Coach Nickerson (Craig T. Nelson) and is kicked off the team. Nickerson's home is vandalized and the coach blames Stef. Stef finds himself blacklisted from colleges. His friend Brian (Chris Penn) is forced to marry his pregnant girlfriend. The mill lays off his brother and he's desperate to escape the town.

It's a very traditional small town kid struggles. Tom Cruise makes it better than its simple premise. He's full of himself and full of angst. It's also interesting that Craig T. Nelson isn't a simple character. Lea Thompson probably plays the most endearing and compelling character. Her talk with Mrs. Nickerson is fascinating. The teenage desperation is palpable although some of it is bad cliché. It reminds me a little of 'Friday Night Lights' but nowhere near as good.