Semi-Tough

Infobox Film
name = Semi-Tough


image_size = 130px
caption = DVD cover
director = Michael Ritchie
producer = David Merrick
writer = Walter Bernstein
Dan Jenkins (novel)
Ring Lardner Jr., (uncredited)
starring = Burt Reynolds
Kris Kristofferson
Jill Clayburgh
Lotte Lenya
Bert Convy
Brian Dennehy
music = Jerry Fielding
cinematography = Charles Rosher Jr.
editing = Richard A. Harris
distributor = United Artists
released = 1977
runtime = 108 minutes
country = USA
awards =
language = English
budget =
gross = USD$22.941 million
preceded_by =
followed_by = Semi-Tough (television pilot)
amg_id = 1:43686
imdb_id = 0078227

"Semi-Tough" is a 1977 movie directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Lotte Lenya, Bert Convy, and Brian Dennehy. The plot involves a love triangle between the characters portrayed by Reynolds, Kristofferson and Clayburgh. "Semi-Tough" also includes a parody of Werner Erhard's est training, depicted in the film as an organization called "B.E.A.T." [cite book | last = Wakeman | first = John | title = World Film Directors | publisher = H.W. Wilson | date = 1988 | pages = Page 890 | id = | isbn = 0824207572] The film is based on the novel "Semi-Tough", by Dan Jenkins, and was adapted for the screen by writer Walter Bernstein and director Michael Ritchie. Ritchie and Bernstein added a new storyline which included a satire of the self-help movement and new religions.

"Semi-Tough" follows the story of pro-football friends Billy Clyde Puckett, and Marvin 'Shake' Tiller, who also have a third roommate, Barbara Jane Bookman. The two men vie for her affection throughout the film, but Shake becomes self-confident after completing a self awareness course called "B.E.A.T." Bert Convy plays the role of Friedrich Bismark, the leader of B.E.A.T. Barbara Jane enrolls in B.E.A.T. training in order to "get it" and be closer to Shake, but does not have a good experience in the training. Billy Clyde takes the training surreptitiously with Barbara Jane, and fakes "getting it" in order to impress her. He later intervenes when she is about to marry Shake, and they admit their feelings for each other.

The film received mixed reception. Reviewers praised its parodies of the est training, Werner Erhard, and other new age movements such as Rolfing. However, other reviews criticized the script and direction of the film, noting that some of director Ritchie's previous films had more of a personal tone. Still other reviews lamented the film's departure from the novel "Semi-Tough", which dealt more with football and less with the new age movement.

Plot summary

The movie portrays friends Marvin 'Shake' Tiller and Billy Clyde Puckett as two football buddies who play for a team owned by Big Ed Bookman called the "Miami Bucks."cite book | last = Bergan | first = Ronald | title = Sports in the Movies | publisher = Proteus | date = 1982 | pages = Page 52 | id = | isbn = 0862760313] Bookman's daughter Barbara Jane Bookman roommates with both men, and the film depicts a subtle love triangle relationship between Barbara Jane and her two friends. [cite book | last = Giannetti | first = Louis D. | title = Understanding Movies | publisher = Prentice-Hall | date = 1987 | pages = Page 48 | id = | isbn = 0139363297] She initially has romantic feelings for Kristofferson's character, who has become more self-confident after taking self-improvement training from seminar leader Friedrich Bismark.cite news | last = Staff | title = Semi-Tough, section, Plot Synopsis | work = Allmovie | publisher = All Media Guide, LLC. | date = | url = http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:43686 | accessdate = 2007-10-24] Friedrich Bismark's training program is called Bismark Earthwalk Action Training, or B.E.A.T. After Shake completes his B.E.A.T. course, he and Barbara Jane sleep together and start a relationship. Barbara Jane is not a follower of B.E.A.T., and Shake is warned by his leader Bismark that "Mixed marriages don't work."

Barbara Jane is determined to make it work with Shake, so she attends B.E.A.T. in an effort to "get it." However, at the end of the training session, she is worn out from Bismark's "sadistic abuse, pious drivel and sheer double talk." Barbara Jane also feels guilty that she did not "get it." Shake is insistent that the training has had proven results for him, noting that he has not missed a football pass since completing B.E.A.T. Billy Clyde Puckett also has feelings for Barbara Jane Bookman, and enrolls in B.E.A.T. in order to understand what she is going through. While participating in the training, Billy Clyde is shown coping with the seminar rules forbidding going to the bathroom during the training. [cite book | last = Wakefield | first = Dan | title = How Do We Know When It's God?: A Spiritual Memoir | publisher = Back Bay | date = 1999 | pages = Page 30 | id = | isbn = 0316917192] For a time Puckett pretends he underwent a conversion to Bismark's way of thinking. While Barbara Jane and Shake are at the altar about to be married, the minister turns to Friedrich Bismark and gives him some advice on how he can avoid capital gains tax in his business. Billy Clyde Puckett ends up exposing the movement's shallow side, and rescues Barbara Jane from both B.E.A.T. and her impending marriage to Shake. After leaving the wedding together, Barbara Jane and Billy Clyde Puckett reveal their feelings for each other.cite book | last = Rollins | first = Peter C. | title = The Columbia Companion to American History on Film | publisher = Columbia University Press | date = 2003 | pages = Page 365-368 | id = | isbn = 023111222X]

Adaptation and preparation

"Semi-Tough" is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins, and the screenplay was written by Walter Bernstein. Bernstein and director Michael Ritchie embellished upon Jenkins' original work, and added parodies of self-help groups, new religions, and the Human potential movement. Ritchie was partially influenced by Adam Smith's book, "Powers of Mind". Though the screenplay was adapted from his original work, Dan Jenkins wrote that "Semi-Tough" "wasn't a horrible movie in my opinion."cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Dan | authorlink = Dan Jenkins | title = You Call It Sports, But I Say It's a Jungle Out There | publisher = Simon and Schuster | date = 1989 | pages = Page 311 | doi =
id = | isbn = 0671690213] Jenkins later commented that the film adaptation of his book "Baja Oklahoma " was: "a lot more faithful to the novel than "Semi-Tough" ever was." [cite news | last = Staff | title = Jenkins praises `Baja Oklahoma' | work = Chicago Sun-Times | date = January 24, 1988 | ]

Burt Reynolds began training with Kris Kristofferson to get in shape before film production. [cite book | last = Reynolds | first = Burt | authorlink = Burt Reynolds | title = My Life, by Burt Reynolds | publisher = Hyperion | date = 1994 | pages = Page 222 | id = | isbn = 0786861304] Before work began on the film, actor Bert Convy attended one of Werner Erhard's est training sessions in order to prepare for his role as B.E.A.T. seminar leader Friedrich Bismark.cite book | last = Silvester | first = Christopher | coauthors = Steven Bach | title = The Grove Book of Hollywood | publisher = Grove Press | date = 2002 | pages = Pages 555-560 | id = | isbn = 0802138780] Pro football stars were hired to give realism to the film, including John Matuszak, Paul Hornung, Joe Kapp, and Ed "Too Tall" Jones. [cite book | last = Cech | first = Jim | title = Oak Creek: 50 Years of Progress | publisher = Arcadia Publishing | date = 2005 | pages = Page 29 | id = | isbn = 0738533920] The football scenes were shot at the Miami Orange Bowl. [cite book | last = Gordon | first = William A. | title = Shot on This Site | date = 1995 | pages = Page 167 | id = | isbn = 080651647X]

The film grossed USD$22.94 million at the box office. "Semi-Tough" was later developed as a pilot episode for a potential television series on a similar theme, and was a candidate to be picked up in the fall of 1980. [cite news | last = Staff | title = Arts Gratia Arfis: TV's candidates for the fall | work = TIME Magazine | publisher = Time Inc. | date = April 21, 1980 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924016,00.html | accessdate = 2007-10-24] The 1980 "Semi-Tough" pilot episode starred Bruce McGill playing Burt Reynolds' original role, with co-star David Hasselhoff. [cite news | last = Laurence | first = Robert P. | title = Network guilty of piling on | work = SignOnSandiego.com | publisher = The San Diego Union-Tribune | date = October 2, 2006 | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20061002-9999-1c02remside.html | accessdate = 2007-10-26] The film has since been released in both VHS and DVD formats.

Parodies of self-improvement, new religions

Bernstein and Ritchie's modified screenplay based on Jenkins' book includes a storyline with "satiric jabs" at new religions, self-improvement and the Human potential movement. A form of Rolfing is also parodied in the film by and character Clara Pelf is a spoof of "a Rolf like masseuse." Big Ed Bookman is seen crawling around on all fours practicing something called "creep therapy" or "movagenics." Movagenics is seen in the film as a way for an individual to find their "lost center of consciousness." Big Ed Bookman is also shown proselytizing for "Movagenics," which "TIME Magazine" referred to in its review as both a cult and a new faith.

The film includes a parody of the Werner Erhard and Erhard Seminars Training, with B.E.A.T. as a stand-in for est.cite book | last = Magill | first = Frank | coauthors = Stephen L. Hanson, Patricia King Hanson | title = Magill's Survey of Cinema | publisher = Salem Press | date = 1981 | pages = Page 395 | id = | isbn = 0893562300] cite book | last = Mulligan | first = Pat | title = The Life and Times of a Hollywood Bad Boy | publisher = AuthorHouse | date = 2006 | pages = 94 | id = 1425950086] In "American Film Now", Friedrich Bismark is simply described as "the Werner Erhard character." "The Grove Book of Hollywood" describes Bert Convy as a "Werner Erhard-lookalike," in his portrayal of Friedrich Bismark. Barbara Jane Bookman's guilty feelings for not "getting it" after completing her B.E.A.T. seminar are seen as a reference to: "how creeds like est put nonbelievers on the defensive." The book also notes that: "The film captures the peculiar mixture of spirituality and pragmatism that surrounded est," and also describes the minister's capital gains tax advice to Friedrich Bismark at Shake's wedding as "sardonic." A 1977 review in "TIME Magazine" refers to Friedrich Bismark's B.E.A.T. as "an est-like movement," and notes: "the Ritchie-Bernstein version of an est seminar is done with marvelous malice." "Psychiatry and the Cinema" characterizes the film as a "devastating parody" of the est training. [cite book | last = Gabbard | first = Glen O. | coauthors = Krin Gabbard | title = Psychiatry and the Cinema | publisher = American Psychiatric Pub, Inc. | date = 1999 | pages = Page 128 | id = | isbn = 0880489642]

After "Semi-Tough"'s release in 1977, Bert Convy was contacted by a number of est followers, as well as by Werner Erhard. After Convy appeared on "The Tonight Show" and discussed his experiences attending Erhard Seminars Training in preparation for his role as Friedrich Bismark, he received a letter from Erhard stating: "it would be great for us to get together." Of the est seminar itself, Convy recalled that when another attendee complained of a headache during the course, the group leader told him to "experience it," and when another attendee wet his pants, he was told to "experience the warmth." In a scene from the film, a woman exclaims to Friedrich Bismark in the middle of a seminar: "I peed in my pants and it felt "good." [cite news | last = Taylor | first = Charles | title = "Dogville": Lars von Trier's Depression-era fable has been labeled "anti-American," but it's even worse: It's anti-human. | work = Salon | date = March 26, 2004 | url = http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/review/2004/03/26/dogville/index.html | accessdate = 2007-10-26] During actual filming on "Semi-Tough", Convy received a late-night phone call from actress Valerie Harper, known in Hollywood as a devoted student of Werner Erhard. She related to Convy that Erhard was "pleased" with the role, and she wished him success in the film. However, Convy suspected that her real reason for calling was to subtly pressure him to go easy on his parody of Erhard in the film.

Awards

In 1978, Walter Bernstein received a nomination for a WGA Award from the Writers Guild of America in the "Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium" category, for his adaptation of Dan Jenkins' novel.cite book | last = Monaco | first = James | title = American Film Now: The People, the Power, the Money, the Movies | publisher = Zoetrope | date = 1984 | pages = Page 359 | id = | isbn = 0918432642]

Reception

The press caught on to the satire of Erhard in the film, and gave these sections of the film positive reviews. "The Wall Street Journal" criticized the film, save for its satirical nature: "The movie isn't much - an erratic ramble - But it has some pleasant moments, and a delicious send-up of the self-improvement guru Werner Erhard." [cite news | last = Staff | title = Our Reynolds Rap -- Burt Is Inert; | work = The Wall Street Journal | publisher = Dow Jones & Company | date = May 27, 2005 | ] "The Charlotte Observer" praised Bert Convy's portrayal of the self-help guru Frederick Bismark, and called Convy: ".. a hilariously smug consciousness-raiser with a more than passing resemblance to EST's Werner Erhard."cite news | last = Staff | title = Videos Bring Back Grit, Grime, Romance of Football Movies | work = The Charlotte Observer | publisher = The McClatchy Company | date = January 25, 1987 | ] "Magill's Survey of Cinema" described the film as a chiding of American "religious fads and philosophies," and "The Grove Book of Hollywood" called it a "cheeky film" that poked fun at the "est" craze and other human potential fads. "TIME Magazine" called the film one of 1977's best comedies, and also noted that it was: "without a doubt the year's most socially useful film."cite news | last = Schnickel | first = Richard | title = Good Ole Boys | work = TIME Magazine | publisher = Time Inc. | date = November 21, 1977 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915740,00.html
accessdate = 2007-10-25]

The film did not receive a positive review in "Variety", where the reviewer commented: "Semi-Tough begins as a bawdy and lively romantic comedy about slap happy pro football players, then slows down to a too-inside putdown of contemporary self-help programs."cite news | last = Staff | title = V Film: Semi-Tough | work = Variety | publisher = Reed Business Information | date = January 1, 1977 | url = http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794740.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 | accessdate = 2007-10-24 ] "Variety" noted that stars Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh were "excellent" within the "zigzag" script and poor direction they were given. Michael Costello of "Allmovie" also criticized the script, and wrote: "While much of this is quite predictable, a number of the jokes score, Burt Reynolds works his charm overtime, and Jill Clayburgh and Kris Kristofferson are effective as comic foils."cite news | last = Costello | first = Michael | title = Semi-Tough, section, Review | work = Allmovie | publisher = All Media Guide, LLC. | date = | url = http://allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:43686~T1 | accessdate = 2007-10-24] In "American Film Now", author James Monaco commented on director Michael Ritchie's directing style in "Semi-Tough", stating that in the film Ritchie was "speaking in a professional voice." Monaco noted that Ritchie's prior films evoked a more personal tone, and had more of a sense of wonder than "Semi-Tough". Chapman's "In Search of Stupidity" characterized the film as: "Possibly one of the best movies ever made by Burt Reynolds," and described the film's parody of est as accurate and amusing.cite book | last = Chapman | first = Merrill R. (Rick) | title = In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-tech Marketing Disasters | publisher = Apress | date = 2006 | pages = Page xxix | id = | isbn = 1590597214] Leonard Maltin criticized parts of the script, stating that Reynolds' charm filled in for the film's other deficiencies.cite book | last = Maltin | first = Leonard | authorlink = Leonard Maltin | title = Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide | publisher = PENGUIN Group (USA) Inc | date = 1998 | pages = Page 1206 | id = | isbn = 0451195825] Hunsberger criticized Ritchie's screenplay adaptation in his work "The Quintessential Dictionary", complaining that the game of football should have supported the film as a plot device, but was instead left to the side in favor of other stories. [cite book | last = Hunsberger | first = I. Moyer | title = The Quintessential Dictionary | publisher = Hart Pub. Co. | date = 1978 | location = New York City | pages = Page 103 | id = | ]

elected cast

ee also

* Circle of Power
* est and The Forum in popular culture

References

External links

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* " [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800115726/info Semi-Tough] " at [http://movies.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Movies]