myriam-825-732156 Robert Downey Jr. AND James Spader? This could be a total turkey and I'd still watch it.The performance of both is excellent, but that's no surprise. You get to see the formation of some of their respective trademark mannerisms.Overall: strange plot, seems to sit between genres, starts off as a sort of High School rom-com but quickly descends into a rough teen thriller, with two major and totally random music numbers in the first part, both of which are arse-numbingly boring and ludicrous.Having said that - James Spader's singing is nice - he's got a good voice but nothing wow, which is why it's interesting that the filmmakers have included it, but it lends a touch of authenticity to a highly stylized 80s flick. The song is odd, unknown to me, but it served its plot purpose I suppose - I would have preferred something else but we can't have it all can we.Side note: what a beautiful man (James Spader). As penetrating and mesmerizing as ever.Moving onto the girl: she's good. Intriguing. Playing with the concept of the good/bad girl credibly. Her back story is convincing (and so is Spader's).The "baddy" of the piece is suitably threatening - you do feel intimidated by the violence and his gang throughout, and I did hold my breath on a few occasions - in terms of the suspense and fight scenes - two thumbs up. Interesting ending - they didn't go for any cheapshots but saw it through to the end.All in all - I think it's a bit of a gem, if a bit of a mongrel one.

TOMASBBloodhound 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.

fertilecelluloid Director Fritz Kiersch made the drab "Children Of The Corn". Fortunately, this is anything but drab. James Spader is terrific as a rebellious youth whose family moves from Connecticut to Los Angeles. He gets himself embroiled in some very nasty trouble almost right away when he inadvertently tangles with local sociopath Nick Hauser, played with creepy authenticity by Paul Mones. The fact that Spader has an eye for the stunning girlfriend of Mones, Kim Richards, doesn't help his situation, either, but it's a great set-up for a violent, fast-paced teen flick.After this little gem, Spader starred as one of the screen's greatest miscreants, Eddie Dutra, in Sean Cunningham's incredible "The New Kids" (see my review). Then, "Sex Lies and Videotape" gave Spader's career a big shot in the arm and took him miles away from roles like this, at least for a decade or so."Tuff Turf" has a mean streak and isn't afraid to lather on the violence and bloodshed. Kiersch's direction is energetic and tight, and he is ably assisted in the atmosphere department by composer Jonathan Elias, who delivers a pumping, moody synth score. Kim Richards, with her long straight hair and sexy wardrobe, personifies a teen lust object, and injects her role with more than a little subtlety. A very young Robert Downey Jr. has a subordinate role as Hauser's only friend and acquits himself well.The film's climax, set in a warehouse, is brutal and bloody, and the sequence in which Spader's bicycle is destroyed demonstrates virtuoso cutting, sound design and cinematography. This is a very well made movie with plenty of "attitude" and lots of style.

rorystevens I rented this film because I'm a fan of Kim Richards, who starred in "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Return to Witch Mountain."This movie reminded me so much of "West Side Story" because of the gang violence, all the dance numbers, and the events that parallel the story in "West Side Story." You can tell that whoever wrote the screenplay for "Tuff Turf" closely patterned it off of the sequence of events in "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet." A guy meets a girl at a dance, she's part of a gang that doesn't like this guy, and despite being on opposite sides of the tracks, the guy and the girl fall for each other, and obstacles and bad things happen as a result. At the end of the movie, Kim Richards even channels Natalie Wood by picking up the gun and saying "How many bullets are left!? Enough for you!?"Anyway, if you're a fan of the '80s time period, this movie should be enjoyable. I really enjoyed this movie, it had a good love story, and there was a lot of suspense because you really didn't know whether this movie would have a happy ending or a tragic ending.I'm surprised Kim Richards never made anymore movies after this. She gave such a great performance, and she had the LONGEST hair, giving her such an edge to her hotness!