After the death of his father, high school student Adam Cummins moves with his mother and sister and maybe other children from their Wyoming sheep ranch to Los Angeles. Country comes to town. Kind of like in Foolin' Around. Soon after arriving, Adam gets mixed up with Clyde "Clutch" Turner, a mannerless bully who enjoys pulling pranks on Adam and putting him down for his rural image. Clyde has an old pre-'69 Ford Econoline van. Adam, in turn, gets back at Clyde on a number of occasions, and the two soon become rivals. Adam gets a job in a service station. The station has a tow truck. I remember it as a '55 or '56 Ford. Adam has a friend named Beaner who has a mo-ped which Clyde demolishes. Adam's sister goes out with Clyde to a drive-in theater. Adam and one of his friends tow them out with the tow truck. I guess Clyde's girlfriend abandons Clyde for Adam. Adam has a 1965 or 1966 Ford pickup. Clyde and Adam race their vehicles on the street illegally. You'd think Clyde's van would have a six and would be a dog, but I guess it would beat Adam's pickup. Adam tells his boss he wants to put a bigger engine in his pickup. So he gets about 400 cubic inches. He beats Clyde's van in a street race. Clyde gets mad and wants to race on the beach along the ocean. So they do, and Clyde has a wreck and is trapped in his van, and the tide is coming in. Adam steals a tow truck off the road, an ex-military ragtop Jeep truck. He maybe could have winched it out of the water, but he tries pulling it, and the wheels just spin in the sand. Will Adam save Clyde's life? Would Clyde and Adam become friends if he did? Will Adam stay in California or go back to Wyoming?
3 Reviews
The sheep rancher and the jock
bkoganbing25 December 2014
Stewart Petersen and Phillip Brown star in Rivals about a country kid from Wyoming who moves to Southern California after the death of his father and the sale of their sheep ranch. Petersen is the country kid and Brown is the super cool California jock who takes an instant dislike to him and puts him down every chance he gets.
This rivalry goes to all levels as Brown's girlfriend Dana Kimmell starts showing an interest in Petersen when he starts treating her as a human being and not a sex object. Brown in turn wants to score with Petersen's sister Lachelle Chamberlain.
Brown is a real jerk and he comes across sadly as almost a caricature. It really robs the film of what could be its true worth. And Petersen is way too goody goody.
Plays like an ABC afternoon special.
This rivalry goes to all levels as Brown's girlfriend Dana Kimmell starts showing an interest in Petersen when he starts treating her as a human being and not a sex object. Brown in turn wants to score with Petersen's sister Lachelle Chamberlain.
Brown is a real jerk and he comes across sadly as almost a caricature. It really robs the film of what could be its true worth. And Petersen is way too goody goody.
Plays like an ABC afternoon special.
After school not-so-special
JohnSeal18 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Rivals was apparently released theatrically in 1981 - two years after its production - but it plays strictly like a made-for TV movie. The biggest clue: built-in 'commercial breaks' at regular intervals. The smaller clues: no violence, no sex, no bad language, no drugs, and only a hint of alcohol. Perhaps this played in the Bible Belt; it's hard to imagine it earning a dime above the Mason-Dixon line. As for the story, it's standard 'new kids at school are unpopular with the big men on campus' stuff. It's a pleasant enough time-killer for those who still have a functional VCR and need some late '70s/early '80s nostalgia.
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