All the Right Moves

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All the Right Moves ★★½ 1983 (R)

Cruise is the high school football hero hoping for a scholarship so he can vacate pronto the dying Pennsylvania mill town where he grew up. At least he thinks that's what he wants to do. Further mixing up his own mixed feelings are his pushy, ambitious coach (Nelson, doing what he does best), his understanding dad (Cioffi) and supportive girlfriend (Thompson, in a notable early role). Strong performances push the relatively cliched melodrama into field goal range. Cinematographer Chapman's directorial debut. 90m/C VHS, DVD . Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson, Craig T. Nelson, Christopher Penn, Charles Cioffi, Paul Carafotes, Dick Miller; D: Michael Chapman; W: Michael Kane; C: Jan De Bont; M: David (Richard) Campbell.