Choices (1981) User Reviews

Made for TV Demi Moore film

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 21 February 2021]

Seeing as how many TV movies are on this set, I was thinking that this would be the 1986 Cannon Pictures made for TV movie Choices, starring George C. Scott, Jacqueline Bisset and Melissa Gilbert, which was directed by David Lowell Rich. Nope.

Instead, this is a 1981 TV movie directed by Silvio Narizzano, who made Georgy Girl and the Dennis Hopper and Carrol Baker-starring Bloodbath, in which Hopper plays Chicken, a junkie living in a small Spanish village where magic and child sacrifice is a fact of life. You better believe I'm hunting that movie down right now.

You know, by comparison, this tale of a partially deaf teenager dealing with his handicap while winning over his football team and a new girlfriend while staying out of trouble seems really boring.

That new girlfriend is played by Demi Moore. It was her first role, but when she became a star, her image became the art on the VHS re-release. The major trivia I can impart to you on this movie is that star Paul Carafotes told Daily Mail that the night before Demi married her first husband Freddy Moore, she snuck out of her own bachelorette party to spend the night with him. She did mention this in her biography Inside Out, but never mentioned him by name.

Low budget but not bad

[cfc_can · 12 January 2001]

Choices is a little heard of film that plays like an After School Special. It's about a teenager who feels alienated from his peers due to a hearing handicap he suffers and his attempts to fit in through high school athletics. It's officially Demi Moore's first film but she only has a small part as the girlfriend of the main character. There's no way to have guessed from watching this that she was on her way to superstardom. The performances are pretty good and there is a great high school/teenage ambiance about the film. It takes itself a bit too seriously at times but the scenes on the football field are engaging and there is a great closing theme song.

Boring Teen Drama

[Rainey-Dawn · 1/10 · 8 February 2017]

There is a partially deaf guy who has a girlfriend, plays in the school orchestra and plays football. His doctor ordered him to get off the football team and his parents agree. His best friends are fighting to keep on the football team. His parents want him to focus on and excel in the orchestra. The guy gets mad about it, sulks, almost falls into the wrong crowd over it but he's still falling in-love with his high school sweetheart. All of this is done in the most boring and overly dramatic way to tell the story of this teenage guy.

I was bored with this right from the start of the film. There is a low rating on this film for a reason - it's just to boring. I realize that teens will get upset at the weirdest things -- especially if they can't play football anymore but to (almost) fall into a bad crowd over it and get huffy is way out there.

1/10

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible

[richardfine · 1/10 · 27 June 2003]

"Choices" is a horrible movie. I say this because it is extremely boring. Not at any point was my attention held. It seems that probably the only reason it's still available is the fact that Demi Moore is in it. Sometimes it might be fun to watch a bad film, but in this case, it's worth skipping altogether.

Demi Moore's first film

[tonyfrancoquantum · 10/10 · 29 January 2008]

I've been doing research on Demi Moore and was glad to discover her first feature film appearance in the film CHOICES. While it has An Afterschool Special feel to it, one must remember that the ABC Afetrschool Specials were beautifully made that stressed positive family values. I was both surprised and delighted by the film, and while Demi's role as the hero's (Carafortes) girlfriend is small, she managed to already show her stuff as an excellent actress, though in this film which she made when she was just 18, it would have been hard to guess that she would rise to such Hollywood glitter and stardom. All the performances, football and musical scenes were very good, especially considering the $350,000 budget of the film. Demi and Carafotes had great chemistry between them, which enhanced the overall excellent quality of the film, which made it a very pleasing watching experience for me and my teen children. Writer Rami Alon (aka Jon Stevens) and his Academy Award nominated Georgy Girl co-director Silvio Narizzano did a glowing job with the little resources they had on hand making the film look much bigger than the money it was produced for. I highly recommend it as an inspirational, never give up in face of obstacles type film for all families, and in particular high school students.

Great Film!

[selwitelsd · 10/10 · 3 July 2002]

Very touching about a kid who is hearing impaired and the prejudice he encounters. He and his best friends fight to keep him on the football team despite the Doctors orders, and his Father and Grandpa want him to quit football and remain in orchestra. Truly riveting!

Top billing?

[Cal-16 · 8/10 · 6 January 2005]

How odd that Demi Moore received top billing for this movie when it was Paul Carafotes, not Demi, who was in almost every scene. And what an excellent actor he is, too! As a viewer who is also hearing impaired, I found this story to be quite inspiring and true-to-life. The hardest thing we such challenged people have to deal with is not our disabilities but, rather, prejudice. It takes super-special people to break through that barrier and succeed -- and woe to those small-minded people who try to keep that from happening.

Carafotes did a fine job, as did Val Avery (coach), Victor French (father), and Pat Buttram (Pops). John's father and coach fought for his rights. Pops, even though the proprietor of an establishment where rough teens hang out, provided good, solid advice. John is very fortunate to have such caring people in his life.

Touching teen drama

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 3 December 2013]

Popular high school student John Carluccio (a fine and likable performance by Paul Carafortes) is forced to be cut from the football team after the new school doctor discovers that he's partially deaf. Distraught by this, John alienates himself from friends and family alike by falling in with a bad crowd. Director Silvio Narizzano, working from a thoughtful script by Jon Stevens, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, presents an accurate depiction of adolescent life, adds a few nice touches of humor here and there, keeps the drama on an even keel (things fortunately never get too sappy), maintains an earnest tone throughout, and handles the central theme of prejudice against the handicapped in a tactful and tasteful manner. Moreover, the conclusion manages to be moving and realistic, with John finally accepting that he's got a disability and taking the necessary steps to adapt to it. The sterling acting by Carafortes holds the picture together; he receives excellent support from Victor French as John's supportive father Gary, Val Avery as the gruff Coach Rizzo, a pre-fame Demi Moore as the sweet Corri, Lelia Goldoni as caring mother Jean, Dennis Patrick as the pragmatic Dr. Bowers, Billy Moses as loyal and concerned best buddy Pat, Stephen Nichols as sleazy and swaggering greaser Chris, and Pat Buttram as amiable old-timer bartender Pops. A worthwhile film.