''Amazing Grace and Chuck'' is a 1987 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Mike Newell and starring

William Petersen William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

and

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

. It was released on VHS in the UK as ''Silent Voice''.
The film's release came in a critical historical context, amid the deterioration of United States-Soviet Union relations, escalation of hostile political rhetoric and deepening public concern about the nuclear threat in the 1980s. The film was released one month before Soviet General Secretary

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

announced the

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

reforms.

Plot

Chuck Murdock (Joshua Zuehlke), a 12-year-old boy from

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and the son of a military jet pilot, becomes anxious after seeing a

Minuteman missile The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...

on a school field trip, which is intensified by a nightmare of a fork dropping after being told that the speed and effectiveness would be done "before a dropped fork hits the floor". Chuck protests the existence of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

by refusing to play baseball, which results in the forfeit of a

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

player (played by NBA star

Alex English Alexander English (born January 5, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and businessman. A South Carolina native, English played college basketball at the University of South Carolina. He was drafted in the second ...

), catches a blurb about the story in his newspaper and decides to emulate Chuck, saying he will no longer participate in professional basketball unless there are no more nuclear weapons. This gives it nationwide coverage, inspiring more pro athletes to join the protest against nuclear weapons. Smith then moves to Montana to meet with Chuck and buys an old barn, which he and the other athletes renovate into their residence. Smith's agent, Lynn (

) is unsure about what he hopes to accomplish but decides to support him and Chuck. The film reaches a climax when the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

(

) personally meets with Chuck, admiring his resolve but at the same time explaining the practical difficulties of disarmament.

Cast

as Amazing Grace Smith * Joshua Zuehlke as Chuck Murdock *

as Lynn Taylor *

as Russell Murdock *

as President * Lee Richardson as Jeffries *

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

as himself *

Alan Autry Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the ro ...

as George * Michael Bowen as Hot Dog *

Frances Conroy Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Prime ...

as Pamela * Dean Alexander as Sports Broadcaster * Jim Allen as Missile Soldier

References

External links

* * * 1987 films 1980s sports drama films American baseball films American basketball films American sports drama films 1980s English-language films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films about nuclear war and weapons Films directed by Mike Newell Films set in Montana Films shot in Montana TriStar Pictures films 1987 drama films 1980s American films Anti-war films {{sport-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links