Tuff Turf

James Spader got himself a breakout role in Tuff Turf as a preppy kid from Connecticut resettled in a California public high school. Even though the family has had some financial reverses and aren't living the life Spader has become accustomed to, he still thinks of himself as to the manor born.

So when he spots Kim Richards who is the girlfriend of gang leader Paul Montes he decides to move in. Montes is a jealous and possessive sort and that means trouble all around.

The story has both Spader and Richards growing in character as well as into each other. Spader loses a bit of that preppy arrogance and Richards gradually realizes that Montes is a loser in the long run and she likes being treated with a little dignity and respect.

Robert Downey, Jr. is in Tuff Turf as well in the sidekick role for Spader. Montes gives a most frightening performance when he starts realizing Richards has slipped away from him.

Tuff Turf holds up well for today's audiences. It's a good Brat Pack film of the Reagan 80s.

Morgan Hiller (James Spader) is a new kid in high school. He makes enemies with the local gang...but the gang leader's girlfriend (Kim Richards) falls for him.

The plot is very predictable but this still is lots of fun to watch. I saw it in a theatre back on a freezing cold winters night in 1985. I was in college and just expected a stupid teen flick (that's what I was in the mood for). I was surprised to find myself really liking it. In terms of fashions, music and attitude it was great! It caught the 1980s head on. These kids talked and acted like high school kids (even though all of them were well over that age). It moved quickly, was well-directed and is full of energy. Most of the acting is very good especially by Richards and a then unknown Robert Downey Jr. Spader was a little bit too mannered for the role but he was OK.

This is no unsung masterpiece but I think it's a good strong 80s flick. I give it an 8.

Anyone with a music shout-out? 'Tuff Turf' is a uneven, but overly stylised and fashionable mixture ranging from a lesser take on 'Rebel without a Cause' with a constant spray of social and class references/forbidden romance in a L.A suburban backdrop and being backed-up by a pumping soundtrack led by Jim Carroll and Jack Mack and Heart Attacks. The music was non-stop and the story's tone and shape zips-around, as early on we seemed to move from one joint to another featuring blaring tunes and raving dance moves.

Morgan Miller and his family have just moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles, where he encounters and interferes with the local gang led by the psychotic Nick Hauser. To make matters worse, his fallen for Hauser's girlfriend Frankie and goes about trying to grab her attention, despite the warnings and beatings to stay away from her.

The young cast are quite good. James Spader genuinely fits blending a rebellious attitude with easy-going suaveness. The gorgeous Kim Richards is completely transfixing in who wholesome performance and punk appearance. Paul Mones nails down his role as the hot-headed thug and Robert Downey Jr. lends in with an agreeable performance. Also dependable character actor Matt Clark makes for solid support.

Director Fritz Kiersch truly gets the beat on with its breakneck pack (despite some editing in the story wouldn't have gone astray) and stylishly muscular verve. When it calls for it, Kiersch isn't afraid to pack a punch, as the jarring violence is sweaty and a bloody pulp. Jonathan Elias' booming, sullen synthesiser score helps cement the rough atmosphere and saucy energy. Some set-pieces seem to work better than others, but there's no question there are a couple of powerful, moving and harsh illustrations. The script isn't as foreseeable, but the humour at times seemed to get in the way or not entirely fit.

This one is a real relic of the '80s--the hair! The shoulder pads! The sweaters folded casually over the shoulders! The movie cheerfully steals from "Rebel Without a Cause" and winks at "The Warriors" and "Footloose" as well. Kim Richards is somewhat miscast as a "tough" girl but gives a very game performance and looks gorgeous as always. James Spader also gives a sincere performance, which couldn't have been easy with some of these scenes (he is forced to serenade Kim Richards on the piano). The best scenes, IMO, are the country club montage (Olivia Barash blithely asking the rich girls "You do swallow, right?"), and when Richards and Spader finally hit it off at a club. How do we know this? Because Richards breaks into a perfectly choreographed (albeit spontaneous) dance number! Truly enjoyable if you just let yourself do so.

Anyone interested in seeing what kind of films James Spader started his career with should begin with Tuff Turf. The New Kids would show a darker side of Spader, but that film also covers the same territory. The story deals with a spoiled brat troublemaker (Spader) whose family is forced to move to a seedy area of L.A. from Connecticut after they somehow lose all their money. Back where he comes from, you can tell Spader was the toughest and coolest kid in school, but the tougher kids from his new school quickly have him on the run. After breaking up an attempted mugging by the school's toughest gang, Spader gets his butt kicked and his property destroyed numerous times. To make things worse of course, Spader falls in love with the gang leader's girlfriend (Richards), and she has feelings for him, too. Needless to say, you don't mess around with a gang leader's woman! Even if you are James Spader.

The film, though full of clichés as ancient as Romeo and Juliet, starts off with definite promise. The opening scene where Spader stops the mugging is exceptional. It's well-paced,well- filmed, and the action blocked perfectly. Every step the gang members take across the street as they pull out their weapons is well-choreographed. The film shifts gears somewhat as we see Spader adjust to his new school the following day. We are introduced to Robert Downey Jr.'s character, and he always livens things up in any film. His character is a bit of an enigma, to be certain. He quickly befriends Spader, yet he seems to know the gang well enough to borrow the gang leader's Camaro and things like that. He also plays drums for a pretty cool punk band we are introduced to a while later.

The tone of the film is wildly inconsistent. The second half hour is bewilderingly bad. Spader, Downey, Richards, and another chick take the gang leader's car for a joyride to some posh locations where presumably Spader feels more at home. The group invades a country club in an excruciatingly bad scene which culminates with Spader playing the piano for his new love interest while she sits atop the instrument and looks embarrassed. Spader's singing performance sounds a lot like the first out-take of a James Blunt recording session before he's warmed up. In other words, it sucks. Things get worse as the group moves to a trendy dance club and Richards does some kind of dirty dance while the entire venue stops to check her out. Simply put, the scene is horrible.

The acting is good enough. Spader and Downey just pretty much be themselves. Richards is certainly worth risking your life over. She's pretty, and she's cool enough to have Motley Crue pictures all over her bedroom walls! Paul Mones, who plays the gang leader is charismatic, but ultimately kind of wimpy. He really isn't too intimidating without his homies, and none of them look that tough, (excuse me...TUFF) either. Some of the music is a great example of the early 80s punk scene in L.A.. That Jack Mack and the Heart Attack band from the club is pretty lame, to say the least! No wonder some guy bombed the 1996 Olympics while they were playing a show! The Verdict: 5 of 10 stars. Basically for James Spader fans, only.

The Hound.