Day 15 - All The Right Moves

All The Right Moves (1983) directed by Michael Chapman

Have you guys seen Flashdance? I haven't, so I have no frame of reference here, but apparently All The Right Moves is commonly labeled as the Flashdance of football. Small town gal with big dreams trying to leave her hometown via dance? Sound about right? If so, then sweet! I just watched two movies in one and can save myself the trouble of watching something that looks like a 90 minute music video set in the 1980s. (Not that I don't like the 1980's but there is only so much of the fashion and music I can take in one sitting.) I have, however, seen Varsity Blues, which I can safely label as the All The Right Moves of the 1990's. So by the law of transitive property, if you've seen any one of these three movies, you don't have to watch the other two. And if you haven't seen any, that probably means you have pretty good taste in movies. (Joking, sort of.)

In case any future movie makers reading this blog are thinking of how to do All The Right Moves or Varsity Blues for the 21st century, here is the basic guideline:
Setting: Small town in middle of nowhere America, preferably populated by poor uneducated working white folk. Very few people leave this town. Your parents were born here, your parent's parents were born here. Your children are probably going to be born here. You are trapped.
Cast:
Protagonist: High school football player with bigger dreams than to work in the local factory. He wants to get out of this small town and go to college. He tells his father, "I don't want...... your life." Other people think he thinks he's too good for them, when in reality, they are absolutely right.
Villain: Overbearing high school coach who thinks he is God. Cannot accept his own failures and puts intense pressure on the kids. He thinks the protagonist has an attitude problem.
Conflict: Protagonist and villain do not get along. Villain is in the position to really screw with the protagonist's future.

So now that you have the formula down, how good your movie will be given these parameters will depend on ironing out a few details, casting and how you shoot the movie. Would this movie be on anybody's radar at all if it didn't feature a young up and coming Tom Cruise? Yes, he does have the star power, but at this stage of his career, it's still raw and untapped. It's kind of weird watching him play someone so young in a campy high school movie, knowing what a huge star he will become. This also features Craig T. Nelson of Coach fame who plays the coach. He really hams it up big time in one scene when he gets in one of his player's face during practice yelling all sorts of cliches and makes him get down and bark like a dog. A case of overacting if I've ever seen it.

All The Right Moves is meant to be an ironic title given that many characters in the movie always seem to be making the wrong choices. That is the process of growing up, things happen and how you deal with them define who you will become. Some people go to prison for stupid things they do, others have kids and get married too quick. Some characters aren't as fortunate as others, trapped with whatever decision they make, while others are able to reconcile with their mistakes and move forward. All The Right Moves does a decent job in portraying this, but ultimately falls a little flat, ending up as a run of the mill coming of age story. The basic outline of the plot prevents it from becoming anything more significant than Varsity Blues.

Grade: C+

Side note: I will say this though, All The Right Moves actually does a really good job in portraying regular high school folk. Aside from a handsome young Tom Cruise, there isn't any one person who you'd consider above average. In fact, the amount of acne on screen is incredible, even Tom Cruise has some! They just look like plain ordinary teenagers. A modern movie would never allow this to happen unless on purpose (i.e. portraying geeks or outcasts, but even then most of the actors/actresses could easily be made to look much better)

Side note 2: There is a scene where Tom Cruise's character describes himself as 5'10". I chuckled a little.