On I List of Movie Reviews

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Inside Moves (1980)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 6/20

6/20: My hat is off to Richard Donner for making an unusual movie called Inside Moves.

Notice the old man with meat hooks for hands? That's Harold Russell, the only double Oscar winner for the same performance in The Best Years of Our Lives. Inside Moves is his second movie ever. Anyway, it's nice to see him again.

Speaking of Oscars, Diana Scarwid was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Well, that's a strange choice. So...she got it for crying on cue perfectly? Let's be real: John Savage is the one who got robbed; he's the heart and soul of the movie: absolutely special as Roary who's a great character.

There's also a decent performance by David Morse. I'm shocked to see him this young, and I didn't know he was tall: 6'4''. David once said, "In my first film, I was a basketball player. Like every good actor, I lied when they asked me if I could play." My favorite scene is when Roary let his character know what kind of jerk he had been; it's an unsettling moment.

Unfortunately, Inside Moves is an uneven movie; there are slow spots between good yet long scenes. Often, it's John Savage who steals the show, but everybody else is more or less okay. There are some schmaltzy parts, and the crude pornographic language in several scenes has to G...O.

All in all, without doubt, John Savage gives the performance of his career in Inside Moves, a one-of-a-kind picture.

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