Tom Cruise followed up his smashing success in the classic RISKY BUSINESS with ALL THE RIGHT MOVES, a quiet and moving drama in which Cruise plays Stefan Djordjevic, a somewhat sexist and dim-witted high school senior whose convinced that his prowess on the football field will allow him to go to college anywhere he wants, providing a one-way ticket out of the tiny, sleepy mining town where he lives where the entire town attends every game. Stefan's college plans get derailed when, after a confrontation with his coach (Craig T. Nelson), Stefan gets thrown off the team and the coach has him blackballed to the point where no college will talk to him. Cruise's interpretation of Jorjevich is quietly impressive because this character is nothing like Joel Goodson, his character in RISKY BUSINESS. Stefan is cocky, sexist, self-absorbed, and not terribly likable, but Cruise still manages to infuse the character with sympathy. Nelson is solid as the coach (nothing like his TV coach)and strong support is also provided by Lea Thompson as Stefan's girlfriend, the late Christopher Penn as Stefan's buddy who has to give up his football aspirations when he gets his girlfriend pregnant, Charles Cioffi as Stefan's dad and especially Paul Carafotes as Stefan's explosive buddy, "The Vooch". Nothing earth-shattering here, but it did prove that Cruise had the range to play different kinds of character.
Review of All the Right Moves
