All the Right Moves

1983 "He has everything at stake. He can't afford to lose. He's got to make all the right moves."
6| 1h31m| R| en| More Info
Released: 21 October 1983 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Sensitive study of a headstrong high school football star who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a football scholarship. His equally ambitious coach aims at a college position, resulting in a clash which could crush the player's dreams.

Genre

Drama, Romance

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Director

Michael Chapman

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

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All the Right Moves Audience Reviews

Console best movie i've ever seen.
Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Thomas Drufke 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 direction56/100
dansview Please remember that a film doesn't have to be perfect, or even close, to be worthwhile. If it contains some interesting and memorable elements, than it has lasting value. Having said that, let me address this one, and refute some of the accusations of "cliché." Let's start with the setting. The opening sequence around town, and the football practice scenes, portray a combination of gritty urban reality and unrefined sylvan ambiance, with remarkable effectiveness. Interestingly, I don't necessarily think that living in a small, woodsy town, having close family and friends, and working with your hands, is such a terrible fate. If your mill closes down, there are other towns within commutable distance, to work in. What if this movie was set in the Spring? Maybe that part of the country is lovely in Spring. So we are shown the region with a slanted spin, as it is set in the Fall. I lived in a depressed logging town at about the time of this movie, but the difference is that it was totally isolated. Conversely, Ampipe, the town in this movie, is not far from Pittsburgh and its' suburbs. Nevertheless, I get the basic depressed vibe, and I'm sure it existed. Tom Cruise brought heart to this role. There's a scene where he is no longer the cocky jock, but rather simply a boy, in need of a mother, and seeking refuge in the reassuring arms of his father. What a uniquely gentle moment for a film about a high school football player. There was nothing cliché about it, and Cruise pulled it off with savvy. For the record, no one is "stuck" in any town in America. What about Junior College, what about just moving to a bigger town? So of course I don't buy the clichéd "stuck in this town without a way out" theme entirely. The gentility of the young couple's sex scene, where they lose their virginity is not clichéd. It is tasteful, sensitive, and totally believable. Tom Cruise's character looks a bit scared, in awe, and very conscious of the significance of the moment. Again, beautifully played. Lea Thompson is lovely in this film, and does a masterful job of portraying a teen in love. She sees that her boyfriend is self-centered, but she has the sixth sense of a small town girlfriend, that helps her see his the finer aspects of his character. We used to rely on real "girls" to provide balance in society, and bring out the best in a man. The music is simply great. "All The Right Moves," and "Blue Skies Forever," are 80s gems, and convey the optimism of a unique cultural time period. There are two apology scenes by men, that are done nicely, and with simple conviction. It's fresh to see men say they are sorry, and to really mean it. Cruise's best scene involves confronting his stubborn football coach in an alley and intermittently sprinting away, while throwing his hands up in confounded ire. Beautifully executed. He has talent, and perhaps should have pursued more gritty underdog roles than he has. What I loved best, was the portrayal of the mixture of hope, potential, vitality, sexuality, and angst that color one's last two years of high school. To be an upperclassman, athletic, in love, invincible, and free.
Desertman84 All The Right Moves is a film about a headstrong high school football star of Ampipe High,Stefen Djordjevic,who dreams of getting out of his small Western Pennsylvania steel town with a college football scholarship. It also results with a head-on collision with his ambitious coach,Coach Nikerson,who also aspires for a college position, resulting in a conflict between them.Definitely,it was one of the better blue collar films made in the 1980's. Djordjevic,played by Tom Cruise in his first dramatic starring film,is a high school defensive back seeking a college football scholarship to free himself from the economic hardship that small Pennsylvania town of Ampipe,a town struggling through the downturn of the recession of the 1980's.While Ampipe High appears headed to win the game,a fumbled play in the closing seconds leads to a Walnut Heights victory.After the game, Coach Nickerson,played by Craig T. Nelson, lambastes the fumbler in the locker room, telling him to quit the team. When Stefen retorts that the coach himself quit, the coach kicks him off the team.After the game,some angry Ampipe fans vandalize Coach Nickerson's residence. Stefen is present and is a reluctant participant, but is nonetheless seen by Nickerson as the vandals flee. From there,Stefen deals with personal battles,including dealing with the coach who bans him among colleges because of his attitude and his relationship with his girlfriend,Lisa,played excellently by Lea Thompson.Stefen,frustrated by his current situation,confronts his former coach and his girlfriend whom he has set aside as his aspirations of getting out of Ampipe has become a big part of his life.At the end of the movie, Nickerson,with the help of Lisa,realizes he was wrong and offers Stefen a college scholarship for playing football at CalPoly where he works on a college position,which he accepts.The movie was simple and ordinary.The story was predictable.What stands out is the acting of Cruise,Thompson and Nelson.The direction of Michael Chapman was also commendable. Also,the movie has great original songs namely: "All The Right Moves";"The Last Stand";"This Could Our Last Chance"; and "Blue Skies Forever".Overall,the film was good but not great.Highly recommended for people who loves Tom Cruise and The Never ending Story star,Lea Thompson as well as people who wants to reminisce their great memories of High School.
Michael_Elliott 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.