Tough Enough (1983)

An aspiring country/western singer, whose money is disappearing faster than his career opportunities, enters a "Tough Man" amateur boxing contest to earn some cash to pay his bills. ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writer:

John Leone

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Carlene Watkins, Stan Shaw

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Quaid	...	Art Long
Carlene Watkins	...	Caroline Long
Stan Shaw	...	P.T. (Paul Thomas) Coolidge
Pam Grier	...	Myra
Warren Oates	...	James Neese
Bruce McGill	...	Tony Fallon
Wilford Brimley	...	Bill Long
Fran Ryan	...	Gert Long
Christopher Norris	...	Christopher Long
Terra Perry	...	Wet T-Shirt Girl
Big John Hamilton	...	Big John
Steve Ward	...	Heckler in Torreyson's
Susan Benn	...	Girl in Torreyson's
Mark Edson	...	Janitor in Torreyson's
Steve 'Monk' Miller	...	Tigran Baldasarian

Storyline

An aspiring country/western singer, whose money is disappearing faster than his career opportunities, enters a "Tough Man" amateur boxing contest to earn some cash to pay his bills. Amazingly enough, he wins it, and is picked to go onto the national finals. He's torn between his first love, music, and the glitz, glamor and money of the "Tough Man" world.

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Plot Keywords:

boxing | singer | boxing ring | training | fist fight | 

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Taglines:

They are big! They are bad! But are they tough enough to beat the Country Western Warrior?

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Fighter

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Cinema Productions, Pelleport Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min 101 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of a cycle of ring fighter movies, mostly boxing, some wrestling, initiated by the box-office and critical success of the Academy Award Best Picture winning boxing movie Rocky. The films include Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Tough Enough, Title Shot, _Raging Bull_, The Champ, Matilda, The Main Event, The Prize Fighter, The Greatest, Body and Soul, Paradise Alley, ...All the Marbles (aka "The California Dolls"), The One and Only, Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.

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Goofs

During the final fight, blood is spattered across the front of Tony Fallon's suit but when shown shortly afterward, the blood has disappeared.

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Quotes

Caroline Long: You were boxing. Why?
Art Long: "Why?" For five thousand bucks: that's why. I won.
Caroline Long: You won five thousand dollars?
Art Long: No, no, no, no, no. I GET five thousand bucks if I win tomorrow night. See; preliminaries were tonight, and the finals are tomorrow night.
Caroline Long: So what'd you get tonight?
Art Long: A black eye.

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Connections

References Rocky (1976)

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Soundtracks

"I Was Born A Dreamer"
Performed by Mickey Gilley

User Reviews

Dennis Quaid is tough as nails and so is this movie

Tough Enough is an entertaining little flick.

A little too close to Rocky, Tough Enough is about Art Long, an out of luck unknown country singer. Art loves his music but he's got to pay his bills. So he ends up signing up for the Strong Man Contest, an amateur boxing tournament. Against all odds he wins the Forth Worth contest and advances to the country's finals. The movie follows his path while Art tries to find his success in music and ends up knowing if he really is the toughest man in the US, even if he has to go against the not very honest promoter Neece for it.

The movie is nothing but a way for Dennis Quaid to shine and he does just that. Quaid carries the film with no difficulty and plays his character perfectly. Art is sympathetic, funny and a `warrior' fighting for his dreams against the odds. Quaid has the needed charisma to be the star as would be seen later in his career and without him, Tough Enough wouldn't be nothing but a mediocre film. Warren Oates also delivers a good performance as the clichè rich promoter without scruples. He gives Neece a personality and was a great match for Quaid. Carlene Watkins who played Caroline also did a great job. She's beautiful, really sexy and I have to admit she was in my mind for some time after the movie ended. A very attractive woman indeed. Notice also Pam Grier, the legend. In other words, a wonderful female cast.

Tough Enough is also hilarious at times. The fights with these big, fat clumsy guys are great. There's a guy who's almost blind that's just too funny. Then in the finals we get some nice fights meaning real boxing, well choreographed. In this department Quaid is again successful.

There are even some nice songs, if you like country music. I'm not even a fan and I enjoyed it.

Tough Enough is a funny, light movie. Nice acting, amusing fights, good music. Not bad at all. Hey, its the triumph of the little guy.

So see it and find out just who is the toughest man…on imdb?