All the Right Moves (1983)

Directed by: Michael Chapman
Starring: Tom Cruise

**1/2

Tom Cruise has become such a massive superstar that its hard to see him as just an ordinary high schooler with dreams of bigger things. How much bigger can Tom Cruise expect? In 1983, however, the very innocent yet inspired looking Cruise fits the role of Stefen Djordjevic very well. He's an all-star cornerback for Ampipe High School in Pennsylvania. While he's certain his skills can get him into any college in the country, football is not his passion. He aspires to become an engineer, to do something with the steel, his father and brother have worked so many years making. Stefen's longing to leave his small town for reasons other than to play football or the cliched "this town's got nothing for me" (however, that cliche does linger a bit) reasons makes his goals all that more sympathetic.

All the Right Moves is 100% a character piece. It doesn't try to blend anything too complex with the struggles the characters go through. Not to be overlooked is the very powerful performance of Craig T. Nelson, who the more I see, the more I like as an actor. There's nothing big about his performance but his subtlety is what works. A look he gives late in the film that any director would have held the shot on longer than Chapman chooses to, sums up everything he is thinking. All it took was a second, but its so powerful to see a tear in his eye that you want to see more. It tells you that he is not the bad guy. He may not be the good guy but he's not the bad guy.

I think there are two key aspects of this film that make it work. One is that there is no obvious good guy and bad guy. There are segments when it would appear that Coach Nickerson (Nelson) is the bad guy and Stefen is the good guy and there are segments when the opposite seem true. What we eventually learn is that these two characters are really only competing against themselves and the problems they've created. Only by extension, do these problems effect each other.

The other aspect of this film that keeps it from becoming Varsity Blues or Friday Night Lights is its ability to stay away from cliches. Stefen has a girlfriend, but she's not the captain of the cheerleading squad using Stefen as her way out of their town because she has no talents of her own. Lisa (Leah Thompson) wants to study music in college. She loves Stefen so she wants him to go off to the best Engineering school he can, even if that means they won't be together. However, in trying to avoid cliches, the film becomes somewhat too convenient.

Having been through High School myself and having now matured to the point where I recognize the silliness (for lack of a better word) of things that go on in high school, hearing Stefen and Lisa continuously tell each other how much they are in love didn't always ring true. I was pleasantly surprised when Lisa approaches Nickerson's wife in Stefen's defense and Mrs. Nickerson suggested to Lisa the idea that the love of your life in high school isn't necessary realistic. That however, was the icing on the cake of the convenience that persisted throughout. It was convenient that Nickerson only seemed to see Stefen on his lawn when some many other people partook in trashing it. It was all too convenient that the one college recruiter (Good old John Locke) that offers Stefen a full scholarship, renigs on the offer just when Stefen needs it most. I could argue that all of this worked in favor of the film but somehow it didn't. My focus laid on the fact that everything happened so conveniently or inconveniently rather than the fact that everything happening was a consequence. It all seemed so scripted.

We're not forced to watch a lot of actual football in this movie but the few scenes that we do are actually done very well. They play out a lot like what a high school football game would play. Nobody is getting hit and flipped over by a linebacker that would be too big to play in the NFL and the quarterbacks aren't avoiding five sacks and finally launching a Hail Mary to a wide open receiver that somehow everyone missed. With the exception of the conveinent monsoon that instantly turned the field into a swamp, these scenes were actually very realistic and watchable.

This isn't a movie I'd seek out to watch again, but I could see myself lingering on it should it ever be on TV. Its an easy watch, its only an hour and a half and the performances are believable. This isn't he movie that turned Cruise into a superstar by any means, but he's good enough to make you forget that he is one.