MovieChat Forums > Semi-Tough (1978) Discussion > Not very good

Not very good

posted 19 years ago by Oliver-50
13 replies | jump to latest

I've always thought that Burt Reynolds could coast through any film simply on charm alone and make it enjoyable for the audience. Semi-Tough is an example that goes against my thought process. Here, Reynolds is listless, expressionless and looks as if he's not fully aware of what's going on around him. Can this really be the same guy who smirked and laughed his way through the entertaining The Longest Yard?

I understand what the film was trying to do about getting involved in cults and such to try and find yourself (the owner crawling on the floor, the beat, the pyramid, Reynolds wanting to write, the weird massage lady) but the writing is so poor and the performances so one-note (Clayburgh is the exception) that it all seems scattershot - and not at all funny. Very disappointing.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle needs to be released on DVD!

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Oliver-50 18 years ago

The scene with both of them was probably the best scene in the movie. I got a chuckle out of it.

Vote for There Was a Crooked Man to be released on DVD at Amazon.com!

[–] jrs-8 18 years ago

I remember seeing this in first release at Christmas of 77 and was roundly disappointed. I thought it was going to be a raunchy look at life in football. A few months ago I caught up with it on cable and watched it again knowing what not to expect and ended up liking it even less. Burt and Kris play sour, unlikable characters and too much time was spent on the whole seminar thing with Bert Convy. I thought Robert Preston was the best thing in it. This was and is a major disappointment.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bonehunter7 17 years ago

Well said. I didn't like it when I saw it in the theater 30 years ago. When I saw it on cable again the other night I still didn't like it.

"North Dallas Forty" is still the best football movie ever made.

[–] Seanybiker 17 years ago

I really enjoyed the film. I am a massive Kris kristofferson fan though.

[–] buby1987 17 years ago

I loved Semi Tough when it came out, and I still love it. It's a great satire of 70's culture. It has more in common with Annie Hall than Longest Yard. It was marketed (wrongly) as a football movie. Football is just a backdrop. Hey, I love football, but this film is aiming at wider targets.

I think Reynolds should have been nominated for Best Actor for Semi Tough. This is Reynolds at his best. Plus, highbrow critic Richard Schickel gave the film a rave review. This is American satire in the vein of Mark Twain.

Preston was great, too, should have been Oscar nominated. And it made Jill Clayburgh a semi-star, until a few months later she reach full stardom in An Unmarried Woman.

[–] wolfsblood66210 16 years ago

I agree that this film was more like a Woody Allen movie than a typical Burt Reynolds film. But I didn't find it very funny or entertaining.
I'd also point out that they have everyone dropping "f-bombs" all over the place constantly which is distracting. In 1977 I guess it was considered daring and cool to do that. It adds nothing to the film and it's annoying.
After watching this film I wondered how Burt Reynolds career might have gone had he got a good role in a film like Godfather or Godfather II. He'd have been the best actor to play one of the Corleones because he actually looks like Marlon Brando. It seems like Burt Reynolds always played the same character in every one of his films from the 70s and early 80s!

[–] richard-865 9 years ago

If you thought there was an excessive use of the "F-bomb" in this movie, you definitely don't want to read the book. The book is far, far raunchier than anything depicted in the movie. The book is also far, FAR superior to this dreary, disappointing film. One of the worst movie adaptations of a book ever.

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Well, I hate football, and I loved this film. This is definitely not a sports movie, but a very sharp satire on American values in the mid-'70s. I loved this when I saw it 30 years ago, and I love it today.

I can't understand all the negative views on this film. I think this is a fine example of a '70s-style "buddy" picture. Burt, Kris and Jill are terrific, and Robert Preston and Bert Convy are hilarious in their supporting roles.

This film never really found its niche – too abstract for the sports crowd, too low-brow for the art crowd – but to those who appreciate it, it is a true treasure for the time capsule.

[–] SurvivorAlpha23 15 years ago

I don't understand why they keep hiring Kris Kristofferson to act in anything but I still liked this movie, most for Burt's sake. Robert Preston was hilarious in this movie, but then I find him to be hilarious even when he's not trying to be.

Maybe the acting wasn't on par with what any of them are capable of doing (except Kris) but it was still a happy fun movie for me.

My Sig: Nothing Here

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

I think Kris is an acquired taste as an actor, just as he is as a singer, but I'm biased because I'm a fan.

But we both agree that Robert Preston is one of the great comic actors. There's something zany about his facial expressions, even when he's not trying to be funny. I love this film for its oddball quality, and the fact that I'm never quite sure what to make of it.

[–] 15 years ago

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