Thoughts about Tuff Turf

Tough Turf is a 1980s movie with James Spader and Robert Downey Jr. Maybe it is not good but I kind of liked it. I might be blinded by nostalgia.

Spader plays a new student named Morgan at a LA high school. He is considered a troublemaker and his relationship with his mother is strained. In a better movie, this would be explored more and so would his relationship with his older brother.

Morgan runs afoul of some goons. Downey plays Morgan’s new friend Jimmy. They are fun together.
Morgan falls for Frankie (Kim Richards) the girlfriend of the head goon. He pursues her. There is a scene where he is singing to her and that was kind of fun.

The goons remain and complicate this would be romance. Especially because head goon Nick thinks that Frankie belongs to him. I think that Nick thinks he loves Frankie.

Roger Ebert did not care for it. He found Spader too laid back and said he barely seems to be alive. He also said that Richards’ hair was lovely and often the only thing on screen worth seeing.

This is probably not worth tracking down if you don’t have some nostalgia, even if it is misplaced, for it.





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