All the Right Moves (1983)

Happy 2023, everyone! With a new year comes a new focus for the blog. We left off with Margot Robbie’s filmography in 2017 (with the exception being Birds of Prey) and will be revisiting the remainder of her filmography at a later time. This year, we will be working our way through the alphabet with 52 first-time watches. The first time through will be a movie that starts with each letter of the alphabet and the second time through will be a movie with a crew member whose name starts with each letter of the alphabet. That brings us to the letter A which will be… All the Right Moves (1983).

Title: All the Right Moves

Director: Michael Chapman

Released: October 21, 1983

Watched via: streaming on STARZ

IMDb synopsis: An ambitious young football star is trapped in a dying mill town–unless his gridiron skills can win him a way out.

What do you get when a Director of Photography with credits to his name like Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, and Raging Bull directs a formulaic sports drama starring Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson, and Craig T. Nelson? A rather underwhelming 91 minutes.

Stef (Cruise) is a high school senior who sees a college football scholarship as his ticket out of his hometown. However, there are no ambitions to go pro as he knows his size limits his chances. He has ambitions of being an engineer but academically won’t qualify for a scholarship. Knowing this, he gives his all in his senior season in hopes of catching the eye of some recruiters. Stef’s girlfriend, Lisa (Thompson), is in the high school band and is not as excited about her chances of getting out of the steel town because as she states, “no one gives music scholarships, just football ones”.

Nickerson (Nelson) is the high school head coach who has an agenda of his own. While working to make sure recruiters take notice of his players, he is also trying to secure his own future with a job at the collegiate level. His tough love approach to coaching provides plenty of tension and conflict between him and his players.

If you have ever seen any sports drama, you can predict how things will play out fairly early on. The story that gets us to that point is rather underwhelming. There is a lack of character depth across the board, even amongst the leads. We aren’t ever given anything that allows us to really become invested in who winds up escaping the dying steel town.

This film also wins the award for oddest choice of montage music. All of the football montages we see are cursed with some heavy synth music. While that might work for a training montage similar to Rocky, it really feels out of place in a sports movie.

But hey, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all, right? All the Right Moves is the first time we really get to see Tom Cruise put his dramatic acting chops on display. No, the script doesn’t give him a lot to work with. But you can still see that he’s got something special, and his performance serves as arguably the lone bright spot in the movie.

If you have a subscription to STARZ, you can stream All the Right Moves now. If you don’t have STARZ and/or don’t already own the movie, don’t rush out to rent it. Wait until it pops up somewhere you can watch it for free.

The letter A is in the books. I have not mapped out what each corresponding letter’s movie will be. So, if you have any suggestions as to what I should watch for the letter B or any other letter, let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me on social media! I’m trying to be more active on more platforms this year. That being said, here is where you can find me.