Movie review: ‘Semi-Tough’

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No, she wasn’t auditioning for a Martin Scorsese film in 1977’s “Semi-Tough,” but two-time Oscar nominee Jill Clayburgh (neither for this one) is quite profane as she plays alongside Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson. It was Hollywood’s cheesy way of showing that a woman could curse and lead a very “liberal” life. Although “Semi-Tough” doesn’t really grade out much as a film, it does an excellent job deflating the supremely stupid self-awareness crap in which many immersed themselves in the post-1960s tedium that was the late-1970s. “Semi-Tough” has recently been making rounds on movie networks, so you can catch this one … if you like.

‘Semi-Tough’
(1977; 108 minutes; rated R; directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh)

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT IT, THEN BEAT IT

(NOTE: I expanded this review with a little more opinion and trivia and the updating of links on Aug. 11, 2019.)

“Semi-Tough” isn’t a good movie if you take it as a whole. However, taken in parts, you’ll be more than mildly amused at some of its philosophical points; you’ll laugh out loud at some of its jokes; and you’ll be impressed with the hilarious mocking of idiotic self-help movements such as EST. It even does an admirable job of trashing Rolfing (remember that nonsense?) as “Pelfing” with the woman who played 007 villain “Rosa Kleb” (remember her with the lethal shoe?).

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In “Semi-Tough,” I was impressed with the effort each by co-stars Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh. Ultimately you can’t grade them out great, but they do good work here in turning out smooth performances. A two-time Oscar nominee (not for this one), Clayburgh has the real acting chops among the headliners, so it feels very cheesy as she curses her way through this one. In the supporting cast, Robert Preston is blusteringly funny as the football team’s owner (oh, right, I haven’t yet mentioned this is a football movie).

The cinematography in “Semi-Tough” is a slice of 1970s cheese (especially the very poorly executed football sequences), but it is nice today to see the clothes and a few neat cars – such as Kristofferson’s sweet Datsun 260Z and, remember, today you call the company Nissan. Let’s also forget that you also experience the interior décor that is so mocked today but defined “rich” back in the day.

“Semi-Tough” is adapted from sportswriter Dan Jenkins’ novel of the same name. It’s the story of two pro football players and their best friend, who happens to be a woman. They all live together in wonderful bliss that money and fame allows. In another “remember,” you must remember that in the 1970s, “decent” folks didn’t do such “things.”

Moving along to the stereotype that explains the film’s plot: One of the players falls in love with the woman and the other realizes that he wants her, too.

Gee, whiz. I didn’t see that one coming and I need a sarcastic emoticon here.

Reynolds plays “Billy Clyde Puckett,” Kristofferson plays “Marvin ‘Shake’ Tiller” and Clayburgh plays “Barbara Jane ‘B.J.’ Bookman.” Kristofferson, who has embraced the self-help nonsense of “BEAT,” asks Clayburgh to marry him and then the hilarity ensues with the film alternating between the players’ antics and the mocking of the self-help movement.

The film winds up – after a Super Bowl victory by the good guys and a great line by the team’s owner before the winning touchdown – at a wedding that is one for the books. I normally wouldn’t enjoy seeing someone shoved head-first through a church’s stained-glass window, but it works here. The denouement has two characters (I won’t tell you which, but it’s not Burt and Kris) walking on Miami Beach in their wedding clothes.

Here’s a rundown of some of the primary cast and how they fit into the film:

  • An Oscar nominee (not for this one), Burt is good being Burt and he’s Burt here. He does his usual excellent job of gliding through a role and winning the audience over. His insouciance is pitch perfect here and Reynolds actually does a nice job with being sincere (although some of his work in the BEAT training scenes is a bit forced). In addition, Burt does a good job with emotion through subtle expression, which has to be a challenge for his type of acting. I like Reynolds the best in the stuntman movie “Hooper” (click here for my review) and he was dramatic dynamite in the porn industry film “Boogie Nights” and received his nomination for that one. I also liked his supporting role as “Boss Hogg” in the reboot of “The Dukes of Hazzard” (click here for my review) while he was also good as the co-star of the little-remembered “Rough Cut” (click here for my review) and was watchable in both “Cannonball” films (click here for my review of the original … and click here for my review of the sequel). He was simply terrible in “Stroker Ace” with then-squeeze Loni Anderson (click here for my review) and, sadly, passed after a heart attack in 2018 at the age of 82.
  • Like Reynolds, Oscar nominee Kristofferson (for music and not in this one) is smooth, cool and is working on a Zen-like countenance. It’s a good role for him and his work is probably as good as anyone can do, but he keeps up with Burt here … and that’s not bad. He’s been in “Fast Food Nation” and way back in 1974 was in Sam Peckinpah’s “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.” He was also in the execrable “A Star is Born” with the equally execrable Barbara Streisand in 1976.
  • Clayburgh is the real actor here and once you get past her cursing just for the sake of cursing (really, even in the late 1970s that was lame) then you’ll see a real actor at work. It’s surprising to write that it is her nuance of looks and expressions that reveal the depth of her talent in a dime-store film. Her work with Burt is really good at times and elevates his game. Clayburgh, who died of leukemia at 66 in 2010, was in “Silver Streak” with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor (click here for my review) and “Bridesmaids.” She got back-to-back Oscar nominations in 1979 and 1980 for “An Unmarried Woman” and “Starting Over,” which is another with Burt. I also enjoyed her work in “First Monday in October” and her small role in the underrated comedy “Fools Rush In.”
  • Also an Oscar nominee (not for this one), Preston does a wonderful job as team owner “ ‘Big’ Ed Bookman,” who’s the father of Clayburgh. He blusters his way to over-the-top pronouncements and even does the “creeping” self-improvement thing by getting around the floor of his office on all fours (don’t worry, the mocking of self-help works here despite the lame idea). Preston delivers a great line as his team is about to score the winning touchdown: “You ain’t gonna let me have it Lord. I’m a sinner and you’re gonna f*** me!” Preston had a great career in Hollywood from big screen spectacles such as “The Music Man” to other turns in films such as Sam Peckinpah’s “Junior Bonner” with Steve McQueen, “Victor, Victoria” (he landed his nomination for this one) and “S.O.B.” with Julie Andrews, who had her only topless scene in that film. Preston died at 68 in 1987 of lung cancer.
  • Bert Convy rises to the occasion as the smooth-talking self-help guru “Friedrich Bismarck.” He’s got a nothing answer for everything and it sounds philosophical. He conveys perfectly the vapid stupidity of all the self-help movements – especially in the training session as he calls the audience “a**holes.” It’s a word very common throughout this film. At the end he gets shoved into a birdcage during the church brawl scene as Preston yells, “Experience that, you a**hole!” Convy was a staple on TV series in the late 1960s through the early 1980s (he was in just about any familiar one you can name) but did films including “The Cannonball Run” with Burt (click here for my review) and “Hero at Large.” To his credit, he also did episodes of “The Love Boat” (click here for my look at that most wonderful TV series). Sadly, Convy died of a brain tumor at 57 in 1991.
  • The most surprising Oscar nominee (not for this one) is Lotte Lenya, who plays “Clara Pelf” and gives Burt a good “Pelfing” here in the mockery of Rolfing. She’s perfect with her clipped, fascist-like voice and manner. Just a glance from Lenya and you know Burt is in trouble. Heck, it’s no surprise that Burt knows he’s in trouble. You’ll remember Lenya as a Bond villain in “From Russia With Love.” Lenya earned her nomination for the original “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” and had only 10 screen credits and was a Tony Award winner. Lenya died of cancer at 83 in 1981.

I would have much rather seen a lot more of Carl Weathers as “ ‘Dreamer’ Tatum” and a whole lot less of Brian Dennehy as “T.J. Lambert.” Weathers is an opponent of Burt’s and has a neat pre-Super Bowl interview with Reynolds. He does a much better job than Dennehy’s stop-and-go so-called acting as Burt’s thick-headed and violent teammate. A lot more Weathers and a whole lot less of Dennehy would have raised the film’s stature considerably. Of course, Weathers was “Apollo Creed” in the “Rocky” franchise as well as doing a great turn in “Predator” (click here for my review) and a funny one in “Happy Gilmore” (click here for my review).

Director Michael Ritchie is obviously in uneven form here and is certainly capable of doing better – just look at the original “The Bad News Bears” three years earlier (click here for my look at the remake). He also did the wonderful comedy-drama “Fletch” (click here for my review) with Chevy Chase, but also spit out a complete stinker when he did the sequel.

In the end, the film doesn’t work as a buddy movie (although it has good buddy moments); it doesn’t allow Clayburgh to make her character into what the plot intended (although she does a good job here); it’s certainly a terrible football film (although it has flashes of football possibility); and it’s just an awful translation of Jenkins’ book. However, translating Jenkins’ work has never been easy – take two TV movies: the horrific golf flick “Dead Solid Perfect” with Randy Quaid or the somewhat better “Baja Oklahoma,” which screenplay was co-written by Jenkins and starred Lesley Ann Warren.

“Semi-Tough” was just outside the top 10 films in ticket sales in 1977 with $37.1 million, according to Wiki, while the No. 10 film “Annie Hall” had $38.2 million. The No. 1 film of the year was no surprise – “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” and it made a near-unbelievable $307.2 million (about 41 percent more than the No. 2 film “Smokey and the Bandit” also with Burt Reynolds had $126.7 million – click here for my review of that film). Here are some films (and one television series) I have reviewed from that year:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Reynolds wears jersey No. 22 in this film. He also wore No. 22 jerseys in both the original and remake of “The Longest Yard” … and it was the jersey number from the past for his character in his Emmy-winning “Evening Shade.”
  • Former pro football star Joe Kapp plays quarterback “Hose Manning” (not of the real Manning quarterback family) and has played football on screen in movies such as “The Longest Yard” and was uncredited as a football player in “MASH” (yes, the film does NOT have asterisks in its title). He did other screen work in films such as “Breakheart Pass” with Charles Bronson and was in the supremely terrible “The Choirboys.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “This picture was the first film of a two picture contract between star actor Burt Reynolds and producer David Merrick. The second movie in the deal was Rough Cut (1980).” I like “Rough Cut” much better than “Semi-Tough” (click here for my review of it).

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