All the Right Moves
Encyclopedia
- For the OneRepublic song, see All the Right Moves (song)All the Right Moves (song)"All the Right Moves" is the lead single by OneRepublic from their second album Waking Up, released to mainstream radio on September 29, 2009. and released for digital download on October 6, 2009...
All the Right Moves is a 1983 drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film directed by Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman (cinematographer)
Michael Chapman, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer whose prominence owes most to his innovative work of the 1970s and 1980s....
and starring Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Craig T. Nelson
Craig T. Nelson
Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
, Lea Thompson
Lea Thompson
Lea Katherine Thompson is an American actress and director. She is best known for her 1990s NBC situation comedy Caroline in the City and her portrayal of Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly's mother, in the Back to the Future trilogy...
, Chris Penn
Chris Penn
Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
, and Gary Graham
Gary Graham
Gary Graham is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series Alien Nation , which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon , Alien Nation: Body and Soul , Alien Nation: Millennium , Alien Nation: The...
. It was filmed on location during WPIAL football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
season in Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...
, and Pittsburgh.
Plot summary
Stefen "Stef" Djordjevic (Tom CruiseTom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
) is a high school defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
seeking a college football scholarship to escape the economically depressed small Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
town of Ampipe. Ampipe is a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
whose economy is dominated by the town's main employer, American Pipe & Steel, a steel mill struggling through the downturn of the early 1980s recession
Early 1980s recession
The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
.
Most of the film takes place after the big football game against undefeated Walnut Heights High School. Ampipe appears headed to win the game, when a fumbled handoff in the closing seconds—as well as Stefen's pass interference
Pass interference
In American and Canadian gridiron football, pass interference is a penalty that occurs when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. Pass interference may include tripping, pushing, pulling, or cutting in front of the receiver or...
penalty earlier in the game—leads to a Walnut Heights victory. Following the game, Coach Nickerson (Craig T. Nelson
Craig T. Nelson
Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
) lambastes the fumbler in the locker room, telling him he "quit". When Stefen retorts that the coach himself quit, the coach kicks him off the team.
In the aftermath, disgruntled Ampipe fans vandalize Coach Nickerson's house and yard. 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 blacklisting him among colleges because of his attitude and participation in the desecration of Nickerson's yard and house.
Stefen, frustrated by what Nickerson did, angrily confronts his former coach. In the end, Nickerson realizes he was wrong for blacklisting Stefen. He has accepted a coaching position at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and offers Stefen a full scholarship for playing football there, which he accepts.
Cast
- Tom CruiseTom CruiseThomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as Stefen "Stef" Djordjevic - Craig T. NelsonCraig T. NelsonCraig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
as Nickerson - Lea ThompsonLea ThompsonLea Katherine Thompson is an American actress and director. She is best known for her 1990s NBC situation comedy Caroline in the City and her portrayal of Lorraine Baines McFly, Marty McFly's mother, in the Back to the Future trilogy...
as Lisa Lietzke - Charles CioffiCharles CioffiCharles Cioffi , also credited as Charles M. Cioffi, is an American movie and television actor.-Biography:He was born in New York City and attended Michigan State University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity....
as Pop - Gary GrahamGary GrahamGary Graham is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series Alien Nation , which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon , Alien Nation: Body and Soul , Alien Nation: Millennium , Alien Nation: The...
as Greg - Paul CarafotesPaul CarafotesPaul Carafotes is an American actor, possibly best known for playing Harold Dyer in the television drama Knots Landing from 1988 to 1990....
as Salvucci - Chris PennChris PennChristopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
as Brian - Sandy FaisonSandy FaisonSandy Faison is an American actress and singer.In 1977, Faison made her Broadway debut as Grace Farrell, secretary to Daddy Warbucks, in Annie. Additional theatre credits include Charlie and Algernon, Is there life after high school?, and You Can't Take It With You.Faison's feature film credits...
as Suzie - James A. BafficoJames A. BafficoJames Angelo Baffico is an American television soap opera director, producer and occasional script writer. Born in San Francisco, California, has a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. and B.A. from the University of Nebraska. He also played the character Wooley in George A. Romero's...
as Bosko - Mel WinklerMel WinklerMel Winkler is an American film and TV actor. Though he mostly takes on minor live-action roles, he is probably best known as the voice of the guardian mask Aku Aku in the Crash Bandicoot series, and Johnny Snowman in the TV series Oswald....
as Jess Covington - Walter BriggsWalter BriggsWalter Briggs may refer to:*Walter Briggs, Sr. , owner of the Detroit Tigers and Briggs Manufacturing Company*Walter Briggs, Jr. , son of Walter Briggs, Sr. and owner of the Detroit Tigers...
as Rifleman - George Betor as Tank
- LeonLeon RobinsonLeon Preston Robinson IV usually credited as simply Leon, is an American actor and singer, who began his professional career as an actor in 1981.-Personal life:...
as Shadow - Terry O'QuinnTerry O'QuinnTerry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
as Freeman Smith
External links
- All the Right Moves at TomCruise.com
- Time Magazine article