The world of professional football players (though not necessarily the sport itself) is given a ribbing in this loose adaptation of the popular book of the same name by Dan Jenkins. Reynolds and Kristofferson are players on a fictional Miami team who share an unorthodox relationship (not to mention living arrangement) with the team owner's daughter Clayburgh. It's a sort of platonic threesome, which is thrown off kilter when Clayburgh begins to fall for one of the men. The triangular love story plays out against the sometimes-bizarre backdrop of locker room shenanigans, commercial endorsements, road-trip sexual escapades and, most notably, the world of self-improvement guru Convy, based on a real-life entrepreneur named Werner Erhard, founder of the "est" program. Weighing in with his own thoughts on his daughter's lifestyle and the lifestyles of his players is her bigger-than-life father Preston, he himself deeply involved in various new age systems and treatments. The film starts out promisingly disarming and saucy, with some startling dialogue and some skin-baring locker room shots, followed by an amusing deodorant commercial shoot and some good work by Catlett as a sexually desperate groupie and Lenya as a no-nonsense physical therapist. Eventually, however, the film becomes mired in the not-too-involving aspects of the love story and the then-topical, now tiresome jabs at self-help. Reynolds has appeared in a lot of junk over the years, but is woefully underrated when it comes to his ability to convey subtle emotion through his charm on the screen. He adds immeasurably to this film with his skilled, more thoughtful than may be immediately visible, laid-back performance. He is saddled with a worse coiffure than usual, but rises above that to give a charming, sincere and mostly appealing performance. Kristofferson is less impressive by comparison, but still offers up sufficient appeal for the bulk of his screen time. Clayburgh, an actress who enjoyed several successes during the notably male-dominated 1970's cinema, is solid in all but two ways. Her Texas accent isn't particularly convincing and she seems at bit ill at ease with all the cursing her part requires. Otherwise, her typical offbeat warmth and amiability shine through rather nicely. Preston manages a few showy moments here and there, but isn't utilized as much as he could have been. Convy, in visibly heavy makeup for some reason, has a good handle on his role (and went to a similar seminar in real life in order to prepare.) Lenya has just the one scene and is well cast in her role. Masur is dependably shifty as the team's business manager. Catlett gets a rare chance to show an array of emotions in her role as a pudgy sexual doormat. Other familiar faces include "Magnum P.I.'s" Mosley as a teammate, Weathers as a player on an opposing team, Silver (of all people!) as a non-English-speaking kicker and Dennehy as the team lunkhead (whose first appearance has him running around with his behind showing, wearing a jockstrap on his head!) Game show host and broadcaster McKrell appears briefly as a smarmy publisher. The music of Gene Autry is heavily featured throughout. Oddly, for a film featuring the after hours exploits of a football team, there is almost no female nudity, just one brief, gratuitous topless scene during a mêlée in a church. This became a very short-lived TV series and doubtlessly inspired some of the plot lines on "1st & Ten" as well.
Review of Semi-Tough
