Product Description

The only way football star Stefan Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) will avoid a life in the blast furnaces of his bleak Pennsylvania hometown is by winning a college scholarship. Even his coach (Craig T. Nelson) dreams of parlaying a winning team into a college job far away from this graveyard of the American Dream. But it's not long before the two virtually ruin each other's chances for escape and their door to the future starts to close. Lea Thompson and Christopher Penn co-star.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62444 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2002-03-05
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Most films about high school football players usually fall into one of two categories: glossy jock romance or locker-room sex farce. This one defies the odds and scores both as decent character study and decidedly unsentimental sports melodrama. It's not only a helluva coming-of-age yarn, but also, like Paul Newman's Slapshot, it's a bracing look at the hopes and dreams of blue-collar survivors. Tom Cruise plays a mill-town football star determined to escape the same traps that ensnared his parents. Craig T. Nelson, in a terrific villain role, is the coach who takes revenge when Cruise's ambitions drift a little too close to home. Michael Chapman, Martin Scorsese's favorite cinematographer, made his directorial debut with this gritty little winner, which benefits from being shot on location in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and which is set to a great Jennifer Warnes-Chris Thompson theme song. Lea Thompson and Christopher Penn co-star. In 1983, another Cruise vehicle had even better moves: Risky Business. --Glenn Lovell

Customer Reviews

"All I have to do is maintain my fantastic 2.0 grade-point average and everything is cool."
Because "Risky Business" gets all the attention for being Tom Cruise's breakout film, Michael Chapman's "All the Right Moves" has often been unfairly overlooked or just outright forgotten. That is a shame because Cruise's "other" coming-of-age film is a highly entertaining effort that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as his more high profile projects.

Cruise plays Stefan Djordjevic, a high school football player who dreams of being awarded a college scholarship in order to escape a future in the steel mills. However, Stefan's short temper often gets the best of him and his relationship with his high school coach (Craig T. Nelson) becomes strained after he participates in an incident that leaves the coach's house vandalized. With the help of his high school sweetheart, Lisa (Lea Thompson), Stefan starts to get his act together and ultimately gets his life back on track.

"All the Right Moves" proves that Tom Cruise had tremendous screen presence from the very beginning. His scenes with Nelson and Thompson provide dazzling hints of greater things still to come. Nelson, who may be better known for his comedic side, turns in an especially strong supporting performance as the coach who is both Stefan's tormentor and supporter at the same time. The story of the small-town kid dreaming to escape his surroundings for better things has been told so many times on television and film in so many different ways that it would be easy to dismiss "All the Right Moves" as just another tired re-telling. However, a familiar story is still engaging if told well and this film is proof of that.

Classic Tom Cruise
While I did not grow up in Pennsylvania, I arrived there a few years after this film and made it my home for many years. Watching this movie brings back many memories, good and bad.

This film was more than just about football, but about small town America. Sure, places like "Ampipe", PA. (Johnstown) may not be sophisticated, glamorous and glitzy places, but it has a togetherness and cohesiveness that many large cities cannot rival.

Tom Cruise plays Steph Djorjevic, a small town kid eager to get out of the cycle that has kept his family in the steel mill town for generations. Steph realizes that there is a world outside the gritty industrial town, and he pursues it.

He has a rocky relationship with his coach, played by Craig T. Nelson (BEST person ever to play the role of a coach anywhere, IMO) and an up and down romance with his steady girl Lisa (Lea Thompson). Steph must face not only the obstacles of growing up here, but getting out as well. He eventually lands a scholarship to Cal-Poly and realizes his dream of getting out. Not just a movie, but an experience. A Must see!

Tom Cruise + Lea Thompson= Great viewing
You get to see Tom Cruise before he exploded and Lea Thompson like you will never see her again. Add Craig T. Nelson as coach Nickerson (what a stetch) and you can't help but have a very good movie. The plot is pretty predictable with a couple sad twists. The only thing I was disappointed in was there were not as many football scenes as I would like. But anybody who grew up in a blue-collar small town where football was king will appreciate this show.