Semi-Tough (1977)

A three-way friendship between two free-spirited professional football players and the owner's daughter becomes compromised when two of them become romantically involved.

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writers:

Walter Bernstein, Dan Jenkins (novel),

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	Billy Clyde Puckett
Kris Kristofferson	...	Marvin 'Shake' Tiller
Jill Clayburgh	...	Barbara Jane Bookman
Robert Preston	...	Big Ed Bookman
Bert Convy	...	Friedrich Bismark
Roger E. Mosley	...	Puddin Patterson Sr.
Lotte Lenya	...	Clara Pelf
Richard Masur	...	Phillip Hooper
Carl Weathers	...	Dreamer Tatum
Brian Dennehy	...	T.J. Lambert
Mary Jo Catlett	...	Earlene Emery
Joe Kapp	...	Hose Manning
Ron Silver	...	Vlada Kostov
Jim McKrell	...	Bud McNair
Peter Bromilow	...	Kostov's Interpreter

Storyline

A comedy about two football players and their mutual girlfriend. Includes many spoofs and parodies about various self-help groups and personal self-improvement seminars that were wildly popular during the 1970's.

---

Plot Keywords:

football player | football | self help group | bar | wedding rehearsal | 

---

Taglines:

They Lead The League In Scoring ... After The Game!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1978 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Zwei ausgebuffte Profis

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charley Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This picture was the first film of a two picture contract between star actor Burt Reynolds and producer David Merrick. The second movie in the deal was Rough Cut.

---

Goofs

When Miami scores the lone touchdown in the playoff game against Green Bay, the scoreboard displays a celebratory message. But the game is in Green Bay. No home team ever celebrates an opposing team's touchdown. especially in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.

---

Quotes

Billy Clyde Puckett: [responding to a knock at the bathroom door] Just shit and push it under the door.

---

Connections

Followed by Semi-Tough (1980)

User Reviews

They must have money-whipped ol' Dan J. to get this sorry movie made

If you'd read the book and then went to see the movie, you probably ran screaming from the theater, vowing revenge on the @$$hole writers, director and producers who ruined one of the funniest sports books ever written. The thinly-veiled send-up of "est" was funny enough, but who the heck made that up? It sure wasn't the author of "Semi-Tough", sportswriter Dan Jenkins. I understand the compromises that must often be made when bringing a book to the screen, I understand that cuts and character deletions are necessary to squeeze a good-sized novel into a 2-hour (or so) movie) - but why rewrite the whole damn thing? Big Ed Bookman as the team owner? Where did that $h!t come from? Nothing about what they did to this movie made a lick of sense. Do yourself a favor - instead of trying to track down a copy of this movie on DVD (it's out there), get a copy of the book (it's been recently re-released in trade paperback format) and laugh yourself silly - then track down copies of "Life Its Ownself" and "Rude Behavior" (they're both a bit harder to come by - for reasons I can't fathom), the 2 follow-ons to "Semi-Tough", and laugh some more.

Then - go find copies of every book by Dan Jenkins that you can lay your hands on and read them all: "Baja Oklahoma", "You Gotta Play Hurt", "Dead Solid Perfect" (the "Semi-Tough" of golf, featuring Kenny Lee Puckett, another Fort Worth native. This book also had an unfortunately mediocre movie made out of it - but with the minor thrill of seeing the luscious Corinne Bohrer (who usually plays squeaky-clean suburban mommies) as the lascivious and uninhibited Janie Ruth Rimmer (Kenny Lee's 3rd ex-wife-to-be), walking full-front naked down the hallway in a British hotel to fill the ice bucket - the shocked middle-aged couple who spot her are author Dan Jenkins and his wife, June, in a quick cameo appearance).

More of Jenkins' books that are must-reads: "The Money-Whipped, Steer-Job, Three-Jack Give-up Artist" ('nother golf book, with another

• different - Texas golfer) and its follow-up, "Slim and None". Find

these books and read 'em - do it - do it now! You'll be glad you did.