Here is a movie that creeps into my mind every now & again. It is a film called Tuff Turf, which was released around at this time back in 1985. I even saw this in a theatre! I was only six years old. My family – they were a little lax to say the least. At the time I found the movie to be very entertaining. It is basically a Romeo and Juliet type of story. Boy and girl fall in love, despite her menacing boyfriend. It was romantic, suspenseful, and even slightly humorous. There are two distinct scenes that have always come to mind whenever I think about this movie: one scene is when Kim Richards and a friend were sitting at a table located outside of a fast-food joint and they were running late for something. Her friend was slowly eating her lunch (kinda like me; I'm a slow eater too) so an anxious Kim Richards grabbed her burger and just shoved it in her face. I thought that scene was quite funny. Another memorable moment was the violent climactic end, which was very drawn out. The showdown took place inside some abandoned warehouse. I remember being particularly frightened by that scene because the bad guy just would not die. No matter how hard James Spader fought, the guy would not go down. There is also some cheesy eighties song at the end of the movie, which is kinda catchy. It goes: "T-U-F-F. You're so tough..." Something like that. I have actually seen this film only that one time, but it is something I still kind of vividly remember. I give it a B- I think it's pretty good. Probably somewhat dated now. Also, Robert Downey Jr. is in this. It's one of his earlier roles. Decades before playing Tony Stark.

This movie is boring as hell! The editing is garish and obnoxious, there is not nearly enough action it's mostly just padding, full of pointless scenes and poorly written dialogue scenes that just go nowhere and do absolutely nothing to further the plot. The love story between Frankie and Morgan would be more engaging if these characters weren't so dull and lifeless, and don't even get me started on this "gang" This gang has to be the most pathetic excuse for a street gang that I have ever seen! I mean all they seem to do for a majority of this movie is talk tough and intimidate Morgan yet rarely ever follow through with anything, for at least two thirds of the film! In fact you barley even see anything of them for two thirds of the movie. This was so obviously just intended to be a cynical cash grab and it backfired! There's a reason people seldom remember this stinker because there is nothing even relatively notable about it! It only brought in 9,369,329 that's nothing! Even by 1985's standards that's nothing! It's not hard to see why either, there is nothing of value here! I can guarantee you by the end of this movie it is going to vanish from your consciousnesses entirely and for good reason. There is nothing memorable here at all! I mean I swear I have just sat through an hour and fifty minutes of just pure tedium, pure an utter monotony from start to finish, and you know what else? All of that monotony might have been forgivable if it was just building up to a satisfying climactic battle, but even that ending scene in the warehouse was just dull and bland, totally boring! There is nothing here! It is one of the blandest most sterile films that I have seen in a long time! there was just You want a real high school gang flick, watch Jack Hill's "Switchblade Sisters" it's streaming on Netflix last time I checked, just watch that and spare yourself the disappointment. Or if you plan to watch this just do yourself a favor and lower your expectations. It's sad too, because that opening scene really did make this film look promising, I thought "hey this should be good campy fun!" But nope! And these fight scenes! My god they are so poorly choreographed and half-baked and not even halfway decent! I mean were they even trying to make a good movie? No of course not, as I said it's a cynical cash grab. That sex scene also, wow! That was lame, if a film manages to make sex look boring, then you know something is wrong. This is just a lame movie, that wasted a potentially entertaining premise. I came here looking for a good entertaining schlock-fest not to be put to sleep! It is amazing that James Spader's career wasn't ruined by this film, it is nothing short of a miracle, and don't even get me started on his performance it's like he was drunk through the entire thing and just didn't even care but can you really blame him. God knows that I can't. This movie sucks, period. Enough said.

This mid-80's James Spader vehicle starts off well enough, but its too long for its own good and becomes meandering after awhile. Not to say that this high-school rebellion/revenge movie isn't watchable, as it is, thanks, in no small part, to good acting, a great soundtrack and a perfectly suitable sense of style. It just sadly falls apart far before the end credits, complete with a song based on the title of the film, roll. Still perfectly good for a lazy rainy day afternoon. Also if you're simply looking to get a gander at the awesome Kim Richards topless, I have a little bit of bad news as its a body double.My Grade: C+

Anyone interested in seeing what kind of films James Spader started his career with should begin with Tuff Turf. The New Kids would show a darker side of Spader, but that film also covers the same territory. The story deals with a spoiled brat troublemaker (Spader) whose family is forced to move to a seedy area of L.A. from Connecticut after they somehow lose all their money. Back where he comes from, you can tell Spader was the toughest and coolest kid in school, but the tougher kids from his new school quickly have him on the run. After breaking up an attempted mugging by the school's toughest gang, Spader gets his butt kicked and his property destroyed numerous times. To make things worse of course, Spader falls in love with the gang leader's girlfriend (Richards), and she has feelings for him, too. Needless to say, you don't mess around with a gang leader's woman! Even if you are James Spader.The film, though full of clichés as ancient as Romeo and Juliet, starts off with definite promise. The opening scene where Spader stops the mugging is exceptional. It's well-paced,well- filmed, and the action blocked perfectly. Every step the gang members take across the street as they pull out their weapons is well-choreographed. The film shifts gears somewhat as we see Spader adjust to his new school the following day. We are introduced to Robert Downey Jr.'s character, and he always livens things up in any film. His character is a bit of an enigma, to be certain. He quickly befriends Spader, yet he seems to know the gang well enough to borrow the gang leader's Camaro and things like that. He also plays drums for a pretty cool punk band we are introduced to a while later.The tone of the film is wildly inconsistent. The second half hour is bewilderingly bad. Spader, Downey, Richards, and another chick take the gang leader's car for a joyride to some posh locations where presumably Spader feels more at home. The group invades a country club in an excruciatingly bad scene which culminates with Spader playing the piano for his new love interest while she sits atop the instrument and looks embarrassed. Spader's singing performance sounds a lot like the first out-take of a James Blunt recording session before he's warmed up. In other words, it sucks. Things get worse as the group moves to a trendy dance club and Richards does some kind of dirty dance while the entire venue stops to check her out. Simply put, the scene is horrible.The acting is good enough. Spader and Downey just pretty much be themselves. Richards is certainly worth risking your life over. She's pretty, and she's cool enough to have Motley Crue pictures all over her bedroom walls! Paul Mones, who plays the gang leader is charismatic, but ultimately kind of wimpy. He really isn't too intimidating without his homies, and none of them look that tough, (excuse me...TUFF) either. Some of the music is a great example of the early 80s punk scene in L.A.. That Jack Mack and the Heart Attack band from the club is pretty lame, to say the least! No wonder some guy bombed the 1996 Olympics while they were playing a show! The Verdict: 5 of 10 stars. Basically for James Spader fans, only.The Hound.