All the right moves

Stef, a young man in a depressed Pennsylvania mill town, wants to escape to a better future. He is the star safety on his high school football team, and he and the coach work towards getting him a college athletic scholarship. But it turns out that he and the coach don't agree on everything...

Stefan (Tom Cruise) is determined to leave the sleepy Pennsylvania mining town of Ampipe where he is growing up. An exceptional athlete, Stef sees football as his ticket out. His pursuit of a scholarship, however, brings him at odds with his combative coach (Craig T. Nelson). While rebelling against his coach and his town, Stef takes up with Lisa Litski (Lea Thompson), an attractive schoolmate and talented saxophone player. Cruise graduated to leading man status with this film, one of many early 1980s pictures with strong teen identities. His sexy, defiant presence carries the film. First-time director Michael Chapman (cinematographer of TAXI DRIVER and many other films) proves himself especially adept in capturing the intense football sequences.

Actors:

Tom Cruise » Craig T. Nelson » Lea Thompson » Gary Graham » Charles Cioffi » Paul Carafotes »

Running time: 87 Minutes

Production: USA 1983