Themes: Coaches and Players, Underdogs, Football Players
Main Cast: Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Charles Cioffi, Paul Carafotes
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
High school athlete Tom Cruise would do anything to escape the dull provincialism of his home town. Cruise's bullying coach Craig T. Nelson cajoles Cruise into seeking an athletic scholarship to a major university. Inevitably, the boy begins to question his goals in life, and soon his soul is the object of a tug of war between Nelson and Cruise's girlfriend Lea Thompson. The first directorial effort for cinematographer Michael Chapman, All the Right Moves was photographed by Jan DeBont, who'd later direct such box-office bonanzas as Speed and Twister. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although the legendary products of Western Pennsylvania high-school football have given their dying milltowns a somewhat romantic air in countless sports documentaries, reality is a much different thing. In this absorbing drama, Tom Cruise stars as a young cornerback prospect who dreams of being an engineer. Despite his love for pretty Lea Thompson and the respect with which he treats his millworker father, Cruise is desperate to get out of his decaying hometown, and knows that a football scholarship is his only ticket. Complications arise when he runs afoul of the team's coach (Craig T. Nelson in a well-played turn) and must face his own pride. The supporting cast is quite good, and Jan DeBont's gritty, evocative photography perfectly captures the film's tone. An unexpectedly moving drama which got lost among the sugar-coated teen trifles of its time, All the Right Moves is a thoughtful and involving story of holding on to a dream in the bleakest of surroundings. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Chris Penn - Brian; Sandy Faison - Suzie; Paige Lyn Price - Tracy; James A. Baffico - Bosko; Walter Briggs - Rifleman; Leon Robinson - Shadow; Victor Arnold - Henry the Bartender; Gary Graham - Greg; Kyle-Scott Jackson - Sherman Williams; Dick Miller - Teacher in Auditorium; Terry O'Quinn - Freeman Smith; Mel Winkler - Jess Covington; Donald A. Yanessa - Coach
Credit
Mary Ann Biddle - Art Director, Marci Liroff - Casting, Phillip Goldfarb - Co-producer, Deborah Hopper - Costume Designer, Joseph Roveto - Costume Designer, Jerry Grandey - First Assistant Director, Michael Chapman - Director, Wendy Greene Bricmont - Editor, David Garfield - Editor, Gary Morton - Executive Producer, David Richard Campbell - Composer (Music Score), Jan de Bont - Cinematographer, Michael Chapman - Cinematographer, Gary Morton - Producer, Stephen Deutsch - Producer, Ernie Bishop - Set Designer, Robert Gravenor - Sound/Sound Designer, Mike Kane - Screenwriter
Stefen "Stef" Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) is a high school defensive back seeking a college football scholarship to escape the economically depressed small Pennsylvania town of Ampipe. Ampipe is a company town whose economy is dominated by the town's main employer, American Pipe & Steel, a steel mill struggling through the downturn of the early 1980s recession.
Most of the film takes place after the big football game against undefeated Walnut Heights High School. Ampipe appears headed to win the game, when a fumbled handoff in the closing seconds leads to a Walnut Heights victory. Following the game, Coach Nickerson (Craig T. Nelson) lambastes the fumbler in the locker room, telling him he "quit." When Stef retorts that the coach himself quit, the coach kicks him off the team.
In the aftermath, disgruntled Ampipe fans vandalize Coach Nickerson's house and yard. Stef is present and is a reluctant participant, but is nonetheless seen by Nickerson as the vandals flee. From there, Stef deals with personal battles, including dealing with the coach blacklisting him among colleges because of his attitude and participation in the desecration of Nickerson's yard and house.
Stef, frustrated by what Nickerson did, angrily confronts his former coach. In the end, Nickerson realizes he was wrong for blacklisting Stef. He has accepted a coaching position at Cal Poly and offers Stef a full scholarship for playing football there, which Stef accepts.
