A dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be demolished for a development project in Alabama. But after spending time with weightlifter Joe Santo and gym worker Mary Tate Farnsworth, Craig wants out of the deal. The property negotiations turn ugly, causing a brawl at the gym and a spectacle at a big bodybuilding meet, as Craig learns that it's not easy to turn your back on fair-weather friends.
Acting
Schwarzenegger's surprisingly tender, philosophical debut performance
Direction
Rafelson's gritty, melancholic take on the American South
Practical Effects
Real bodybuilding culture captured before Pumping Iron made it mainstream
Director
Bob Rafelson
Jeff Bridges
Craig Blake
Sally Field
Mary Tate Farnsworth
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Joe Santo
R.G. Armstrong
Thor Erickson
Robert Englund
Franklin
Helena Kallianiotes
Anita
Roger E. Mosley
Newton
Woodrow Parfrey
Uncle Albert
Scatman Crothers
William
Kathleen Miller
Dorothy Stephens
Fannie Flagg
Amy
Joanna Cassidy
Zoe
Richard Gilliland
Hal
Ed Begley Jr.
Lester
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Schwarzenegger trained for months and lived with real bodybuilders; this performance convinced producers he could carry Conan the Barbarian.
Shot on location in Birmingham, Alabama, capturing the fading industrial South just before Reagan-era gym culture went mainstream.
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