High school athlete Tom Cruise would do anything to escape the dull provincialism of his home town. Cruise 's bullying coach Craig T. Nelson cajoles Cruise into seeking an athletic scholarship to a major university. Inevitably, the boy begins to question his goals in life, and soon his soul is the object of a tug of war between Nelson and Cruise 's girlfriend Lea Thompson . The first directorial effort for cinematographer Michael Chapman , All the Right Moves was photographed by Jan DeBont , who'd later direct such box-office bonanzas as Speed and Twister . — Hal Erickson