Tuff Turf (1985)
7/10
Well, that's tuff
7 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I suppose that if both your parents are teachers, being in a film with a misspelt title is a pretty good way to rebel. IMDb says that both of James Spader's parents were teachers, and he left school in the 11th grade, so ... well, make up your own mind. To make up for the possible lack of difficulty in playing a rebellious New Englander, this role is all singing, all dancing, all cycling ...

... well, I think he sings the line at the start of the film, but the song he sings seems to be dubbed (despite the credits failing to clarify this point either way). And there is absolutely no attempt made to make it seem he is really playing the piano.

Spader has never been in anything musical since this, but I will say that his dancing is very good.

This is a cross between a rather sweet romantic comedy and one of those films that is unbelievably, mindblowingly idiotic. I particularly liked the line, "This is the 80s!" No kidding! So that would account for the outfits and the hairstyles.

amazon.co.uk deleted part of my review (without my knowledge or consent) because I noted that Kim Richards's hair was unusually long. But it was: especially by the standards of the 1980s. Nor did Amazon like my comment that Spader looks as if he is wearing eyeliner during the fight scene at the end. But he does. With his flicked fringe and apparent eyeliner, he resembles the late Princess Diana, IMHO.

Most of the songs are ones that aren't played much now, but "People That Died" was used in a retrospective on the drama series "Six Feet Under". It was played during a montage. Amazon didn't want that in the review either.

I recommend this to all of Spader's fans. You'll laugh, you'll lust, you'll cringe with embarrassment.

It was the 80s.

Very much so.
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