Inside Moves (1980)

Review by All Movie Guide
It may seem surprising that Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner was at the helm of this small-scale drama, but he and the rest of the principals have acquitted themselves well. The script by the team of then-writer Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin focuses on a group of handicapped characters who hang out at a local bar, dwelling in particular on the relationship between the crippled Roary (John Savage) and injured basketball player Jerry (David Morse). While this sounds like the stuff of a TV-movie, the edgy characters in the film are viewed without sentimentality. The adversities they must deal with have the feel of real life, and none of them are given amusing tics or superhuman capacities to make them more palatable to the audience. The relationship between the genuinely troubled Savage and Morse, one whose problem is essentially physical and temporary, is sensitively handled and its resolution seems inevitable. Along with the excellent work by these two, Diana Scarwid is quietly effective as the woman Savage becomes involved with and Laszlo Kovacs' fine camera work establishes an atmosphere of moody, low-key intimacy. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide