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American Anthem
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Wikipedia article
'American Anthem' is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Albert Magnoli and starring Mitch Gaylord and Janet Jones. The film was produced by Lorimar Motion Pictures and released in North America by Columbia Pictures.
Plot
Football player turned gymnast Steve Tevere seeks to join the United States Olympic gymnastics team.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkEWoSIWO3A Official trailer posted by Movieclips on YouTube] Gaylord was a member of the gold-medal U.S. men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Cast
* Mitch Gaylord as Steve Tevere
* Tiny Wells as Jake
* Janet Jones as Julie Lloyd
* Michael Pataki as Coach Soranhoff
* Patrice Donnelly as Danielle
* R.J. Williams as Mikey Tevere
* John Aprea as Mr. Tevere
* Michelle Phillips as Linda Tevere
* Kathrine Godney as Landlady
* Stacy Maloney as Kirk Baker
* Peter Tramm as Ron Denver
* Maria Anz as Becky Cameron
* Jenny Ester as Tracy Prescott
* Andrew White as Arthur
* Dick McGarvin as Announcer Prelim Meet
* Mark Oates as Danny Squire
* Jan Claire as Announcer Final Meet
* Megan Marsden as Jo-Ellen Carter
* Li Yuejiu as Lin Xiang
* Googy Gress as Alan Cole
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on CD, LP and cassette by Atlantic Records. The album contains songs by various artists, including two themes from the film, composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.[https://www.allmusic.com/album/american-anthem-mw0000189064 AllMusic]
# Two Hearts - John Parr (6:07)
# Run to Her - Mr. Mister (3:34)
# Same Direction - INXS (5:08)
# Battle of the Dragon - Stevie Nicks (5:15)
# Wings to Fly - Graham Nash (4:00)
# Take It Easy - Andy Taylor (4:22)
# Wings of Love - Andy Taylor (5:03)
# Love and Loneliness - Chris Thompson (5:03)
# Angel Eyes - Andy Taylor (3:26)
# Arthur's Theme - Alan Silvestri (2:50)
# Julie's Theme - Alan Silvestri (1:42)
Reception
The film was a box office flop, grossing only $4.8 million against a $7 million budget.
The film received aggressively negative reviews by critics[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-27-ca-20658-story.html MOVIE REVIEW: 'AMERICAN ANTHEM' WINS NO MEDALS - Los Angeles Times] especially from famed critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert; with the latter called "as bad as any movie I've seen this year (1986), and so inept that not even the gymnastics scenes are interesting" while the former called the film "complete junk; you can see more interesting gymnastics on 'Wide World of Sports' than in this garbage".[http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-anthem-1986 Roger Ebert.com]
'American Anthem' currently holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on sixteen reviews, with an average rating of 2.5/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.
Accolades
Gaylord's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star, where he lost to "the six guys and gals in the duck suit" from 'Howard the Duck'.
References
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