Inside Moves - 1980
Directed by Richard Donner
Written Valerie Curtin & Barry Levinson
Based on a novel by Todd Walton
Starring John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid, Amy Wright, Bert Remsen, Tony Burton & Harold Russell
I hope anyone kind enough to read this entire review will pardon a digression at the very outset, but
Inside Moves is the type of movie that I associate with a project I began some time ago. You see, a good friend of mine - a terrific writer, published author and film fanatic - wrote a series of articles that I found really interesting. He grabbed the Top 100 Box Office Earnings list from Box Office Mojo (lists from other sites differ considerably, so no one box office list should be considered official) for each year regarding one decade - the 1980s. He then wrote one piece regarding each year, trawling through the list with the advantage of hindsight and making observations. One interesting factor is the fact that quality seems to be evenly distributed - there are as many good films at the bottom of the list than there are at the top, and vice versa. There are often bizarre oddities that make good "this movie was actually made" trivia curios. There are some really good movies that were barely seen on release, and some that have continued in obscurity. I was so interested that I wanted to take it all further - and so with the intention of doing each year I had a closer look, starting with 1980. I found so many interesting and varied movies - and one of them was
Inside Moves. Despite being directed by the red-hot Richard Donner, it was one of those films that barely had a release at all - so despite all of it's merits it's not a well-known movie, even today.
Box Office Mojo has since changed the lists from what they were - made them more accurate is my hopeful guess - so the likes of
Inside Moves,
Ressurection,
Melvin and Howard and other hidden gems have disappeared completely. These are movies that audiences never even had a fair shot at judging for themselves, the whole system in place leaving decisions on how wide a release a film gets in the hands of just a few executives, who might not even be that good a judge of how great a film is. The popularization of home video became something of an equalizer - giving movies a life beyond cinema and television, and a more democratic one at that. Videos were around in 1980, but their widespread use and video shops in every suburb were still a few years away. I think
Inside Moves would have picked up an audience through word of mouth if it had of been released on video a few years on down the road, but instead it came out in 1981 - and when you take into account that it's cinematic release had no publicity or any advertisements associated with it, then it's easy to see how it slipped through the cracks. There were a few good reviews and an Oscar nomination for Diana Scarwid, but this was one of the quietest releases I've ever seen for a film directed by an established big name movie-maker at the height of his career. Donner's sacking from
Superman II the only real indication of why his film was not supported.
The movie has two converging themes - family, and being disabled. I should perhaps put family in inverted commas because I don't think there's a single character in
Inside Moves who has a blood relative we hear about. The family of
Inside Moves is that of an adoptive community - and as we commonly see in fiction our familial group of characters converge on a bar - this one in Oakland, California. Max's. In Todd Walton's novel our main character, Roary (played by John Savage, giving what is perhaps his best ever performance), is wounded in Vietnam and became disable via that route. In the movie we're treated to an opening that's tremendously powerful and shocking, with a determined Roary set to commit suicide jumping from the 10th story of a building, landing on a tree, then a car, then being transported to hospital in critical condition. The credits cover a montage in which Roary is rehabilitated, and by the time the film proper begins he's the character we'll get to know - limping, pivoting, swaying and unsteady with slurred speech. There's something charming about his manner though - the way he'll swing his fist, turn about suddenly or add some wry aside to a conversation. He's a good guy, and when he happens on Max's bar he meets a group of lovable people.
First and foremost there's Jerry Maxwell (David Morse) - big and brash, he's good at basketball despite having a serious leg injury and is outspoken, keen and very direct. Jerry loves Anne (Amy Wright), a hooker and drug addict that causes him nothing but trouble. Usually playing cards are Stinky (Bert Remsen), Wings (Harold Russell) and Blue Lewis (Bill Henderson). There's the owner Max (Jack O'Leary) and later the bar hires a waitress that Roary will develop feelings for - Louise (Diana Scarwid). Jerry and Roary end up becoming best friends, and although determined to put up money to financially aid the bar (which is in financial troubles), Roary also wants to help his friend get the operation he needs to embark on a basketball career - such is his talent. But when success comes Jerry's way, all of his old friends at the bar are disturbed by the way they're cut off from (and by) him. In the meantime Louis struggles with her feelings for Roary due to the fact that she's not sure she can handle being physically intimate with a disabled man. All of life's troubles, heartaches, successes, joys and tears are shared by those who frequent Max's. Many are disabled. Stinky is blind, Blue Lewis can't walk and Wings has no hands - and this is something that only serves to strengthen the bond between them. It's something Jerry feels seperated from once his leg has been mended, and something he almost fears is contagious.
When I first came across this movie I wasn't as well acquainted with some of it's stars - Bert Remsen I've come to love by delving into the cinematic world of Robert Altman, and I always feel like I'm visiting an old friend when his cheerful countenance is seen and raspy voice is heard. Harold Russell I eventually recognized from the 1946 classic
The Best Years of Our Lives - but only after thinking to myself that he "reminded me of that guy" due to the fact he's a double amputee. It took me a while longer to get the fact that this was the exact same man - and indeed Russell hadn't even taken a role in any film during the 34 years that had elapsed since William Wyler's famous movie was made. As mentioned before, Diana Scarwid was nominated for an Academy Award (I know her, despite the fact she's had a disappointing career if you take into account the promise it had), and that makes me all the more curious as to why John Savage wasn't nominated - his is a mountain of a performance that lifts the entire movie up a category, and to see Sarwid nominated but not Savage is a puzzle indeed. His career up to this point had been exceptional, but would take something of a downward turn from that point on.
The team putting
Inside Moves together is rock solid. Although we don't hear the score all that often, it makes such an impression when we do that it dominates this movie to such an extent that you feel all of the emotional thematic weight whenever you hear it. John Barry has written a melody that's both catchy and pleasing, and it's carried forth prominently via trumpets and brass - coalescing into a theme we'll hear repeated and get to know so that by the time the end credits greet us you'll be humming along yourself. It's a bittersweet kind of heartfelt tune that evokes bars and people who have had a lot of hard luck in their lives - the kind that would have fit at any stage during
Fat City or
Ironweed. Behind the camera is László Kovács (not Vilmos Zsigmond!) and he spends much of his time finding the right shade and lighting for searching examinations of faces - there's little time for wide angle shots or beautified landscapes. This is a very human drama, carried forward by it's own emotional weight and the headspace of it's characters. Camera and music make way for the characters created by Todd Walton and realised by the talented performers Richard Donner has gathered around him.
So what really makes a family? Humour - there's plenty of humour in the film, but genuinely funny and at times a little groan inducing. Helping each other out - which is what all the friends at Max's bar do constantly, with advice, encouragement, giving and company. Being there - which is what creates friction when Jerry disappears after his basketball career takes off. Beer - it seems, although I've seen beer do as much to create friction and angst as it does bring people together, but in the world of movies we can sometimes have a perfect world. Nursing each other to health when one has taken a bloody beating from an angry pimp. Turning a blind eye to terrible indiscretions and bad decisions when butting in would simply be interfereing. Standing firm and telling the truth when needed. Throughout the film, because of Roary's new adopted family, we see him grow both as a character and human being proving that his disability couldn't stand in his way when it came to a fulfilling, healthy life - one where dreams can come true. That all might sound sappy or sentimentally trite, but
Inside Moves works hard and grinds out a little honesty and isn't afraid to shrink from topics like drug addiction, prostitution, violence and suicide - in a way it earns the right to push a little melodrama once it's established where it's at.
So, at the end of the day what do I really like about this movie? To me, it's always about John Savage and the character he creates with his one-of-a-kind performance. Honestly , I love Roary - but I'm very embarrassed to say that maybe some of that love comes from how charming his manner becomes via the various tics, slurs and sudden movements that are added to the way he goes about communicating. It just makes him unique, but obviously there has to be a good-hearted, loveable personality deep inside for the whole character to work like he does. Partly, I think, it's me cheering on the underdog as well. You'd never guess Roary could be at the place he is at the end of the film when the movie starts - a funny counterpoint to one of the last lines of the movie, delivered by Anne - about people always staying who they are. Of course we do - it's circumstances that change, and we change our circumstances via our actions, and with the help of our extended family whether they be blood relations or good friends. That's the great journey both Jerry and Roary take in
Inside Moves, a good natured take on what it means to be crippled in just about every meaning of the term. If you're surrounded by a loving family though, your dreams are your limit.
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