View source for Inside Moves

{{Short description|1980 film by Richard Donner}}
{{For-multi|the 1984 studio album|Inside Moves (album)|the Parker Brothers game|Camelot (board game)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Inside Moves
| image          = Inside Moves FilmPoster.jpeg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Richard Donner]]
| screenplay     = {{Plainlist|
* [[Valerie Curtin]]
* [[Barry Levinson]]
}}
| based_on       = {{Based on|''Inside Moves''|[[Todd Walton]]}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* Mark M. Tanz
* [[R. W. Goodwin]]
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]]
* [[David Morse]]
* [[Diana Scarwid]]
* [[Amy Wright]]
}}
| cinematography = [[László Kovács (cinematographer)|László Kovács]]
| editing        = [[Frank Morriss]]
| music          = [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]]
| studio         = Goodmark Productions
| distributor    = [[Associated Film Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1980|12|19}}
| runtime        = 113 minutes
| country        = United States
|gross = $1.2 million<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/300/mode/1up|title= American Film Distribution: The Changing Marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=300 |isbn=978-0835717762}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref>
| language       = English
}}

'''''Inside Moves''''' is a 1980 American drama film directed by [[Richard Donner]] from a screenplay by [[Valerie Curtin]] and [[Barry Levinson]], based on the novel of the same name by [[Todd Walton]]. The film stars [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]], [[David Morse]], [[Diana Scarwid]], and [[Amy Wright]]. At the [[53rd Academy Awards]], Scarwid was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for her performance.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 53rd Academy Awards {{!}} 1981 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=5 October 2014 }}</ref>

== Plot ==
After a suicide attempt leaves a man named Roary partially crippled, he finds himself living in a rundown house in Oakland, California. He spends a lot of time at a neighborhood bar, which is full of other disabled people, and becomes best friends with Jerry, the barman with a bad leg.

Jerry gains the attention and respect from the [[Golden State Warriors]] when he scrimmages a player and loses narrowly. After the bar owner suffers a heart attack, a new waitress named Louise is hired. Roary develops romantic feelings for Louise.

Jerry's luck turns around when one of the professional basketball players lends him the money for an operation to fix his leg. Once he is fully healed, Jerry becomes a basketball star, fulfilling his lifelong dream. However, he abandons his old friends by pretending they never existed.

Later, Jerry's old friends begin to resent him for his negligence, Roary visits Jerry and pressures him to visit the bar. Jerry offers up a half-hearted excuse for his absence, and despite Roary's feelings, begins seeing Louise in secret.

Roary finally confronts Jerry about his behavior and offers some final thoughts on their friendship and what the bar and its patrons meant during his recovery. After Roary leaves, Jerry angrily reflects on his past decisions.

Roary reunites with Louise. Jerry returns to the bar and reveals his insecurities to his old friends, who understand right away.

For the first time in 25 years, Max closes the bar, so everyone can attend Jerry's basketball game.

== Cast ==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[John Savage (actor)|John Savage]] as Roary
* [[David Morse (actor)|David Morse]] as Jerry Maxwell
* [[Diana Scarwid]] as Louise
* [[Amy Wright]] as Anne
* [[Tony Burton]] as Lucius
* [[Bill Henderson (performer)|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
* [[William Frankfather]] as Fryer
{{div col end}}

== Production ==
In his 2006 audio commentary for ''[[Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut]]'', Donner states that he agreed to direct ''Inside Moves'' only to take his mind off being fired and replaced from ''[[Superman II]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut |section=audio commentary |people=Donner, Richard (director) |publisher=Warner Bros. Pictures |year=2006 |type=DVD}}</ref> He referred to ''Inside Moves'' as "the smallest film I could do that was just very near and dear to me, at that point, and I felt this is going to take my mind totally off that."

The film marked the return to the screen by disabled veteran [[Harold Russell]], 34 years after his Oscar-winning role in ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]]''.<ref name="Maslin" />

Donner's biographer James Christie relates how the director would often confuse cinematographer Kovács with his fellow Hungarian [[Vilmos Zsigmond]]. When Zsigmond visited the set, Donner had T-shirts made up that read "MY NAME IS NOT LÁSZLÓ" and "MY NAME IS NOT VILMOS" for each of them. Later, they switched shirts and confused everyone.<ref>{{cite book |last=Christie |first=James |title=You're the Director...You Figure It Out. The Life and Films of Richard Donner |publisher=BearManor Media |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-59393-527-6 |page=152}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Critical response===
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.<ref>{{cite Metacritic|id=inside-moves|type=movie|title=Inside Moves|access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref> [[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that "''Inside Moves'' is such a well-acted movie, and parts of it are so effectively offbeat, that it rises above its own potential for sappiness, just as surely as its characters triumph over their troubles." Maslin also called it "a modest and sentimental movie, but also one that, on its own terms, accomplishes what it means to."<ref name="Maslin">{{cite web |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=December 19, 1980 |title='Inside Moves,' Starring John Savage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/19/archives/inside-moves-starring-john-savage.html |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> [[Emanuel Levy]] described the film as "a compassionate, well acted melodrama about what it means to be a disabled American."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/inside-moves-1980/|title=Inside Moves (1980): Donner's Disability Melodrama, Starring John Savage and Diana Scarwid in Oscar-Nominated Performance|last=Levy|first=Emanuel|date=June 9, 2011|website=Emanuel Levy|access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Recipient
! Result
|-
| 1981
| [[53rd Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Diana Scarwid]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1982
| 15th [[Turkish Film Critics Association|Turkish Film Critics Association (SİYAD) Awards]]
| Best Foreign Film
| ''Inside Moves''
| {{draw|8th Place}}
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[List of basketball films]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{IMDb title|id=0080928|title=Inside Moves}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=inside_moves|title=Inside Moves}}
* {{Mojo title|insidemoves}}

{{Richard Donner}}
{{Golden State Warriors}}

[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:1980 drama films]]
[[Category:American drama films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:American basketball films]]
[[Category:Golden State Warriors]]
[[Category:Films about friendship]]
[[Category:Films about disability in the United States]]
[[Category:Films about suicide]]
[[Category:Films set in Oakland, California]]
[[Category:ITC Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Richard Donner]]
[[Category:Films scored by John Barry (composer)]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:English-language drama films]]