6: All The Right Moves

This week, we have clear eyes, full hearts and we can’t lose as we discuss Michael Chapman’s 1983 football drama All The Right Moves. Is this quiet film of small-town desperation maybe too quiet? Is football the perfect metaphor for American life? Was Craig T. Nelson born to be a coach?

Content Warnings: sexual assault, racist language

Unanswered Questions:

  • Stef is a fairly inactive protagonist. What are the right moves, and how many of them does he make?
  • Is Lisa’s unresolved story careless screenwriting, or an intentional commentary on the hopelessness of young women in these circumstances?
  • Does the film work as well if Stef and Lisa don’t have sex on the night of the last game of the season?

Further reading:

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Join us next time as we discuss the first film in which Tom Cruise doesn’t play a high-schooler: Ridley Scott’s 1985 fairy tale Legend.


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