The All-American Boy (1973) Online

This flop was filmed a few years before it was released in 1973. It was made, but was never released until Jon Voight's popularity was soring with Mid-Night Cowboy.

The All-American Boy tries to pass itself off as a boxing film, but the sport is nothing but a backdrop for a symbolic ride of deep interpretations of the mis-use of "beauty" to get by in life.

Voight plays Vic "Bomber" Beasley, a strapping, undefeated amateur boxer, destined for Olympic Gold and a successful career in boxing. Tall, muscular, charming, and handsome, that's Vic, but that's only his physical appearance. Inside he is a heartless, lazy, self-centered user. The Bomber uses an array of women, among them Anne Archer(she looks about 16), E.J. Peaker, and Rosalind Cash. In a "weird" role is veteran character actor Gene Borkan as a gay boxing manager named Arty.

The film seems to want to depict how society falls all over itself to be around "beautiful" people and catering to their every whim, with little in return.

Voight is wooden and lacks any type of emotion, but that what makes him so great. He is void of feeling for anyone except himself. He uses his looks and charm to get what he wants from his family, friends, women, and even other men, gay or straight.

The All-America Boy was a box-office flop. It will be a flop for you unless you read between the lines. An out-standing piece of film-making.

This is a wonderful surreal gonzo movie of the early seventies. Why it was ever released is beyond me! John Voight is perfect as the boxer hoping to get to the Olympics from the small town of "Buddyville". The relationship between Voight and his girlfriend is fascinating. Anne Archer is stunning in one of her early roles. Charles Eastman directed his original screenplay which reminds you of the later works of Terence Malick. The ending has a "Days of Heaven" feel to it. I enjoyed the use music in the film especially "Laugh Laugh" by the Beau Brummels. When was the last time you heard the Beau Brummels? The dialog has a "inner" quality to which adds to surrealness of the film. Check this one out you won't be disappointed!

When they say "They don't make 'em like they used to", people are generally referring to those grand, plush films that featured beautiful stars in amazingly appointed settings and saying or doing wonderfully dramatic things as a gorgeous score pounds away in the background. However, they also don't make them like this anymore. Brave is the film maker of today who would present a character like this one and film his adventures in such a subtle, amusing, understated way. Voight plays an unsettled, restless young boxer who has trouble making life work. Taken under the wing of gymnasium owner Glass, he continues to hone his craft until he's primed to join the US Olympic team! However, he's tossed aside or misused so many people by then that even he isn't sure he's right for the task. The film is presented in six sections, clearly defined by title cards indicating which "round" Voight is in. He begins with an uncomfortable encounter amongst his daffy family in the small town of Buddy, Texas, eventually fleeing into the arms of his old squeeze Peaker. Then he hooks up with crusty Glass, who sets him on track to become a great fighter. He tries to keep a foothold in the dual worlds of family and small-town life while pursuing his boxing goals. Along the way he passes the time with amorous gas station customer Cash and just-fully-ripened hometown girl Archer. He even begins to win over his disbelieving family members. However, he may be lacking the character and strength of will to follow through on his goals. Voight is at or near the peak of his attractiveness here. Sun-bleached and tanned, his body is fit (and he shows it off in a bizarrely framed scene in which he and Peaker (both nude) carry on a discussion while he is on his back, pubic hair in full view. It would be twenty years before another major film offered up such a casual depiction of that area, when Julianne Moore ironed her dress while bottomless in "Short Cuts".) He gives an intense, thoughtful portrayal, often ably displaying the sort of selfish, dull characteristics his part calls for. Fans who only know Peaker from "Hello Dolly" and television comedies are in for an eye-opener here. She gives a solid performance, her adoration of Voight evident at all times, even as she spurns him. It's a odd role and she imbues it with a subtle layer of comedy. Again, her nudity is presented without fanfare. Glass, best known as Doc in "West Side Story" gets one of the best roles of his long career as the crotchety, incredibly foul-mouthed coach whose interest in Voight may go beyond his career. Archer, in one of her earliest roles, brings a freshness and quirkiness to her part. The whole film is a showcase for lesser known, but vaguely familiar, actors and actresses who meander in and out of Voight's life, often with very understated, but still humorous results. It's mostly a character study, with little emphasis on the actual plot of the story. It delights in examining the eccentricities of people (check out the guy sitting next to Voight's mom Cooper at the big fight!) A large amount of background incidental music helps add flavor to the film. It also serves as a delightful time capsule of the times. Peaker works in a drug store that has a counter with stools and offers bottles of pain reliever for $0.73 after tax. It's sure to be deemed too slow and too boring for many folks, but to observant and patient viewers with an interest in the idiosyncrasies of others, it has a lot to offer.

Before Jon Voight became love and sex object Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy he did this film The All American Boy which was shelved. Released due to the success of Midnight Cowboy, this film sadly provides the reason it was shelved in the first place.

Voight is playing another Joe Buck, not that he's outright selling his body for sex, but he's got good looks and charm and that's good enough for a lot to get by on and he does. What puzzled me is why would he want to ruin all that and become a boxer? A life of that sport and he'll wind up a version of himself that he played in the remake of The Champ.

Sadly the film drags on in the telling. It has several spots guaranteed to give you yawns. Did like that rather surreal ending.

Best in the film is the gay fight manager and Ned Glass takes one look at him and he's an instant houseguest. A harbinger of Midnight Cowboy.

A half hour less this film might have been Voight's breakout role rather than Midnight Cowboy.

Jon Voigt has endless possibilities in front of him, so he heads down to Vacaville, gets Ned Glass as a trainer/manager and starts getting ready to become a great boxer. But things come too easy to him -- women most especially -- so he never has to commit to anything until it's too late.

Jon Voigt has proven himself a willing and bold actor over the decades, but he gives a closed and boring performance in this long-winded and turgid story about "the Many Art in Six Rounds". It was an era in which important movies had anti-heroes and old values were dead, so this movie was pulled off the shelf after MIDNIGHT COWBOY had made Voigt a star.... and it flopped hard.

It flopped because it's a bad story, a story about someone who threw it all away for no reason but laziness and fear and unwillingness to commit. It's not a message that anyone really needs to hear: "Don't be afraid to work hard and commit to a goal. That's the way to succeed." We all know it, even if we can't do it ourselves. We don't need a precautionary tale to tell us that.