L'esprit d'équipe

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.

Ah, the classic 80's film, the big hair, the bad lighting, the lame music, everything that embodies the great American films of 1983. And "All the Right Moves" is no exception. I'm 24, and just viewed this movie for the first time last week by stumbling upon it at my parent's house while I was visiting for the weekend. Why do you care? I live in Johnstown, where this movie was filmed (as was 1977's Paul Newman classic "Slap Shot") and I had never heard of this film! So, I find this dusty VHS copy and take it home with me to view. As i pull it out of its slip sleeve, a yellowed napkin falls out; with Tom's autograph on it! Turns out when I was about 1, my parents brought me down to Johnstown to ride on the Inclined Plane, and I was introduced to Tom Cruise. I never knew?! So knowing that, I had to give the movie a thorough watching, and I must say, I have a little pride that that film was shot here. It was an enjoyable movie, although the ending was a little dry. The sad part of the film is, all the activity and energy that takes place in the movie with the steel mills is no longer here. The mills have been shut down for about 20 years, and the city is pretty much in a depressed state. It's good to watch the movie just to get a glimpse of what this area use to be. So watch it, enjoy it, heck, you can even rent it from the rental place a block from my house. That place is called "All the Right Movies." Enjoy! P.S. For the Kid's sake, It is rated R for strong language and some intense nudity.

I would have to say that this is one of the better movies realisticly portraying small town high school football to ever have been made. Tom Cruise gives a wonderful performance indicative of his future superstardom and even though Craig T. Nelson seems to be typecast as a coach, he plays the role to perfection. The scene of the big game against neighboring rival Walnuts Heights was shot so masterfully, you felt like you were on the 50 yard line. You could just feel the tension in the locker room before kickoff. Even though this film came out when I was 11 years old, I remember in high school our whole football team would gather at the coach's house the night before a game and watch this movie. I don't think that there has ever been a movie since that has come along that portrays high school football, its significance to Small Town USA and the young men who portray the roles of "Friday Night Gods" with such gritty realism as this film.

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

A younger, different looking Tom Cruise (old jaw/nose?) stars in this movie about a high school student aching to leave his dying steel mill town and study to be an engineer on a football scholarship. He watches his best friend, also on the team, marry his pregnant girlfriend; another member of the football team is arrested for armed robbery; his brother gets laid off from the mill; and his girlfriend (a young, fresh Lea Thompson) complains that no one gives music scholarships, just football ones, and she's going to be stuck in the town. After turning down initial scholarship offers to middle of the road schools, Cruise finds himself blackballed after an incident at his coach's house with which he was only peripherally involved. Off the team, and with the word out that he has an "attitude problem," he sees his dreams turning to dust.

Craig T. Nelson plays the coach and does his usual fine job, and Lea Thompson is a vibrant, passionate Lisa. Cruise here gives a truer performance than usual - I usually find him a very external and not terribly believable actor. In "All The Right Moves," he's sympathetic and heartfelt. I much prefer this to the perfectly handsome, glossy figure he is today. Time to get back to basics, Tom, and get some of those right moves back.