Inside Moves *** (1980, John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid) – Classic Movie Review 6,563

Director Richard Donner handles the warm-hearted 1980 feel-good drama film Inside Moves like a man who believes in it. He said it was ‘the smallest film I could do that was just very near and dear to me’.

Good acting, funny lines and some touching moments support an odd idea. Inside Moves is a sitcom in a bar full of people with disabilities, where Roary (John Savage) learns that suicide is not the answer after he ends up paralysed in a wheelchair after a failed suicide attempt. In the bar, he meets Jerry the bartender (David Morse), who has had a knee operation, and falls for Louise (Diana Scarwid). Then Jerry finds himself playing basketball for the Golden State Warriors.

Handicapped World War Two veteran Harold Russell, who lost his hands in the war, makes his first film since his Oscar-winning role for The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946, playing Wings.

If the predictable story, based on the novel by Todd Walton, is too sentimental, schematic and does not quite work, the film’s heart is in the right place. And the calibre of the performances, even in cut-out character roles, makes it highly watchable.

Also in the cast are Amy Wright, Tony Burton, Bill Henderson, Bert Remsen, Steve Kahan, Jack O’Leary, Pepe Serna, Harold Sylvester and Arnold Williams.

Scarwid was nominated as Best Supporting Actress at the 53rd Academy Awards.

Russell went on to make one more film, Dogtown in 1997. He died on 29 January 2002, aged 88.

Inside Moves is directed by Richard Donner, runs 113 minutes, is made by Goodmark Productions, is released by Associated Film Distribution, is written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson (screenplay), based on the novel by Todd Walton, it is shot in Technicolor by Laszlo Kovacs, produced by Mark M Tanz and R W Goodwin, scored by John Barry, and is designed by Charles Rosen.

It was released on December 19, 1980.

It took only $1.2 million at the box office.

Donner said he directed Inside Moves only to take his mind off of being fired from Superman II. He said it was ‘the smallest film I could do that was just very near and dear to me, and I felt this is going to take my mind totally off that’.

The cast are John Savage as Roary, David Morse as Jerry Maxwell, Diana Scarwid as Louise, Amy Wright as Anne, Tony Burton as Lucius, Bill Henderson as Blue Lewis, Steve Kahan as Burt, Jack O’Leary as Max, Bert Remsen as Stinky, Harold Russell as Wings, Pepe Serna as Herrada, Harold Sylvester as Alvin Martin, Arnold Williams as Benny, George Brenlin as Gil, Gerri Dean as Hooker, and William Frankfather as Fryer.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,563

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