233 reviews
So good. Even better than I remembered. Cruise really came into his own in the third act. A real star making role, obviously, and Rebecca DeMornay was stupendous. So hot. How she didn't become a star after this is anyone's guess. Booger. Balki. Phil Collins. Tangerine Dream - love on a train.
At the risk of sounding like an old man, they simply don't make em like this anymore.
At the risk of sounding like an old man, they simply don't make em like this anymore.
- Eclectic-Boogaloo
- Jul 10, 2021
- Permalink
RISKY BUSINESS is the smart and sexy 1983 teen comedy that brought intelligence to the genre and made a bonafide movie star out of Tom Cruise. Cruise is utterly winning as Joel Goodson, a high school senior excited about the prospect of having the house to himself when his parents go out of town for a few days; but things go from bad to worse when Joel crosses paths with a nubile prostitute (Rebecca DeMornay). This surprise hit brought an element of sophistication that was absent from a lot of the teen comedies that were populating the screen in the 1980's. This movie boasts a smart screenplay, imaginative direction, a memorable musical score, and on-target performances from Cruise, DeMornay, Curtis Armstrong, Joe Pantoliano (memorable as a slimy pimp), Bronson Pinchot, and Janet Carroll. Tom's sexy underwear dance to "Old Time Rock and Roll" has become Hollywood folklore. An instant classic upon release that still holds up over 20 years later.
Starring in the role that made him a household name, Tom Cruise leads this classic 80s film that ended up being a lot darker and profound than I expected. This isn't your typical teen sex comedy from the 80s. There's a lot of pointed commentary on capitalism, teen fantasy, and coming of age. Rebecca De Mornay is perfectly cast as the alluring, enigmatic call girl Cruise becomes entwined with and is instantly memorable in the role. Risky Business has a lot more to say than you might think and is worth checking out some 40 years later.
There are too many reviews of Risky Business for mine to have any relevance as a movie review. However, this movie is for me a time capsule of the era I saw it in, and a photograph of the future to come in American culture.
I saw this movie when I was 22 in a tiny college theater with a date. I remember several disconnected things about it: The movie was much more interesting than my date was, the music by Tangerine Dream was hypnotic and fit the tone of the film, which struck me as being more depressing in places than funny (although there are some funny moments in it), and it gave me a glimpse into a world that I thought was fictional. It turned out I hadn't experienced the world it was presenting yet. When Cruise asks his friends what they plan to do with their lives, one's answer is very simple and focused: "Make money". Another friend adds: "Make a LOT of money".
It turns out the movie was precognizant of the next ten to twenty years of American culture; the absolute obsession with making money through any means necessary, legally or illegally, regardless of consequences to yourself or others. Then taking that money and buying the things that will make you happy: a porsche, a big house, and most importantly, a hot babe in your bed, that will only be there as long as the money is. Internally discovered happiness? A quaint notion created by the poor who can't afford the toys that validate your existence.
I am sure that the filmmaker would be the first to say that the movie parodies the hollowness of the "American Dream" of acquiring wealth to buy creature comforts, but too much of the time it feels like it celebrates them. At the end, the hooker stays Cruise's girlfriend only as long as he continues to make her money; she even says "I'll be your girlfriend...for a while". Real loyalty there. But then, she is a hooker, and is being honest. She in fact is presented as the only person in the film that is not a hypocrite. She has no illusions that money & sex make the American world go 'round, and doesn't pretend herself to be otherwise; unlike Cruise and the rest of his friends. In the end however, she is still hollow, the values the kids pursue are hollow (they are only after sex, not love), and the movie feels as deep and solid as a glossy magazine ad for a Lexus.
Even over the obsession of greed, however, the film illustrates the complete alienation of the modern American teenage male: alone, isolated, judged by his peers with the kind of car his dad lets him drive, his clothes, and whether he can get laid or not. The emphasis is on sex, not relationship. There is no rite of passage into adulthood, no guidance from parents who more often than not are as distant from their children as the cardboard cutout parents in this film.
In short, as depressing as this film is when you step back from it, it paints a frighteningly accurate portrait of how superficial and narrow a world, yet directionless (except for accumulating superficial wealth) a young boy's world can be. There are no values taught in this film, because there are none available as examples. And that is the environment too many kids are subject to. That is what was so disturbing to me about the film at the time I saw it, yet it took 20 years to understand why (as I was, like most kids my age, in the same vacuous and bankrupt culture this kid was in at the time).
There are 300% more suicides committed by 14 year old boys in America than any other age group or category. This movie explains why.
Seven stars, not for humor, but for photographing the beginning of an era that lasts until this day. The message from Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart and others for American kids will be: Don't get caught. A message which is slowly becoming the only "moral direction" left in American culture.
I saw this movie when I was 22 in a tiny college theater with a date. I remember several disconnected things about it: The movie was much more interesting than my date was, the music by Tangerine Dream was hypnotic and fit the tone of the film, which struck me as being more depressing in places than funny (although there are some funny moments in it), and it gave me a glimpse into a world that I thought was fictional. It turned out I hadn't experienced the world it was presenting yet. When Cruise asks his friends what they plan to do with their lives, one's answer is very simple and focused: "Make money". Another friend adds: "Make a LOT of money".
It turns out the movie was precognizant of the next ten to twenty years of American culture; the absolute obsession with making money through any means necessary, legally or illegally, regardless of consequences to yourself or others. Then taking that money and buying the things that will make you happy: a porsche, a big house, and most importantly, a hot babe in your bed, that will only be there as long as the money is. Internally discovered happiness? A quaint notion created by the poor who can't afford the toys that validate your existence.
I am sure that the filmmaker would be the first to say that the movie parodies the hollowness of the "American Dream" of acquiring wealth to buy creature comforts, but too much of the time it feels like it celebrates them. At the end, the hooker stays Cruise's girlfriend only as long as he continues to make her money; she even says "I'll be your girlfriend...for a while". Real loyalty there. But then, she is a hooker, and is being honest. She in fact is presented as the only person in the film that is not a hypocrite. She has no illusions that money & sex make the American world go 'round, and doesn't pretend herself to be otherwise; unlike Cruise and the rest of his friends. In the end however, she is still hollow, the values the kids pursue are hollow (they are only after sex, not love), and the movie feels as deep and solid as a glossy magazine ad for a Lexus.
Even over the obsession of greed, however, the film illustrates the complete alienation of the modern American teenage male: alone, isolated, judged by his peers with the kind of car his dad lets him drive, his clothes, and whether he can get laid or not. The emphasis is on sex, not relationship. There is no rite of passage into adulthood, no guidance from parents who more often than not are as distant from their children as the cardboard cutout parents in this film.
In short, as depressing as this film is when you step back from it, it paints a frighteningly accurate portrait of how superficial and narrow a world, yet directionless (except for accumulating superficial wealth) a young boy's world can be. There are no values taught in this film, because there are none available as examples. And that is the environment too many kids are subject to. That is what was so disturbing to me about the film at the time I saw it, yet it took 20 years to understand why (as I was, like most kids my age, in the same vacuous and bankrupt culture this kid was in at the time).
There are 300% more suicides committed by 14 year old boys in America than any other age group or category. This movie explains why.
Seven stars, not for humor, but for photographing the beginning of an era that lasts until this day. The message from Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart and others for American kids will be: Don't get caught. A message which is slowly becoming the only "moral direction" left in American culture.
- mercuryix-1
- Dec 20, 2006
- Permalink
Risky Business and All The Right Moves are the two films that launched Tom Cruise's career as brat pack film star. Unlike so many of his contemporaries from the Eighties, he's proved to have staying power and will no doubt continue to do so.
All The Right Moves established Cruise as a dramatic actor, but Risky Business is a fun comedy about a hormone driven teenager who when the folks go away from his Chicago suburban home and he's left to play, he gets himself in all kinds of problems. First dialing up call girl, Rebecca DeMornay and then not having enough coin of the realm to pay her. Then getting mom's treasured glass egg stolen. And then getting the family car driven into Lake Michigan.
But Cruise and DeMornay, who is having trouble with her pimp Joe Pantoliano, hit on the brilliant idea that there's a market out there for his group of eager overachievers. And Tom's house becomes quite the swinging brothel.
Risky Business turns out to be pretty funny business. Best scene in the film involves Tom with Princeton interviewer Richard Mazur. You've got to love the way this boy gets into the Ivy League. Second best scene involves Tom and the family car as it plunges into the lake and then gets hoisted out.
Tom's definitely proved to have staying power in show business. I can see his character in Risky Business growing up to be Jerry Maguire.
All The Right Moves established Cruise as a dramatic actor, but Risky Business is a fun comedy about a hormone driven teenager who when the folks go away from his Chicago suburban home and he's left to play, he gets himself in all kinds of problems. First dialing up call girl, Rebecca DeMornay and then not having enough coin of the realm to pay her. Then getting mom's treasured glass egg stolen. And then getting the family car driven into Lake Michigan.
But Cruise and DeMornay, who is having trouble with her pimp Joe Pantoliano, hit on the brilliant idea that there's a market out there for his group of eager overachievers. And Tom's house becomes quite the swinging brothel.
Risky Business turns out to be pretty funny business. Best scene in the film involves Tom with Princeton interviewer Richard Mazur. You've got to love the way this boy gets into the Ivy League. Second best scene involves Tom and the family car as it plunges into the lake and then gets hoisted out.
Tom's definitely proved to have staying power in show business. I can see his character in Risky Business growing up to be Jerry Maguire.
- bkoganbing
- Nov 10, 2008
- Permalink
- jboothmillard
- Sep 18, 2008
- Permalink
In a rich Chicago suburban neighbourhood Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) strives to fulfil his parents' Princeton goal, enlisting into an entrepreneur competition in order to better his resume. Coming-of-age comes about when his parents leave on a two week vacation, having him to cope for himself. After being hyped up by his friend Miles (Curtis Armstrong), Joel decides to invite an exclusive call-girl Lana (Rebecca De Mornay). After a fiery night Joel turns out to lack enough money to pay for the service, which soon leads to the situation to spiral out of control...
Still charming and entertaining with an absolutely volcanic De Mornay igniting the screen, "Risky Business" does however lack the timeless commentary of "The Graduate", while loses in wit and development to the quasi-remake "The Girl Next Door". Basically just another teen-movie with style to share, straight-forward, not flashy, but extremely effective. The main strengths still lie in the more artistic, creative sequences, like a brilliantly executed train sex scene. Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay captivate throughout making it a still likable, but by no means meaningful movie.
Still charming and entertaining with an absolutely volcanic De Mornay igniting the screen, "Risky Business" does however lack the timeless commentary of "The Graduate", while loses in wit and development to the quasi-remake "The Girl Next Door". Basically just another teen-movie with style to share, straight-forward, not flashy, but extremely effective. The main strengths still lie in the more artistic, creative sequences, like a brilliantly executed train sex scene. Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay captivate throughout making it a still likable, but by no means meaningful movie.
- TOMASBBloodhound
- Jul 11, 2006
- Permalink
This movie is mostly known for the "Old Time Rock N' Roll" scene and the fact that it is the first time most people saw Tom Cruise. Both are good reasons to see this teen comedy with dramatic overtones.
Tom plays Joel Goodson, who is soon in over his head, as he contacts and spends the evening with a gold-digging call girl named Lana. When he cannot pay for services rendered, Lana lifts an expensive object from Joel's house, and the movie takes off.
The actors are all very good. Curtis Armstrong and Bronson Pinchot stand out as Joel's friends and Joe Pantoliano makes a great pimp.
This movie is essential for all male high schoolers, as it contains about a thousand fantasties, but because its also about growing up, girls and adventure in a Chicago suburb (Ferris Bueller might be living across the street). More thumbs up for the non-Hollywood,non-traditional ending.
Tom plays Joel Goodson, who is soon in over his head, as he contacts and spends the evening with a gold-digging call girl named Lana. When he cannot pay for services rendered, Lana lifts an expensive object from Joel's house, and the movie takes off.
The actors are all very good. Curtis Armstrong and Bronson Pinchot stand out as Joel's friends and Joe Pantoliano makes a great pimp.
This movie is essential for all male high schoolers, as it contains about a thousand fantasties, but because its also about growing up, girls and adventure in a Chicago suburb (Ferris Bueller might be living across the street). More thumbs up for the non-Hollywood,non-traditional ending.
Underrated (I): Cruise (Joel Goodson) is highly amusing as one of his most feared "career moves" might become harsh reality: University of Illinois - here he is! Excellent movie providing an accurate, contemporary image of the eighties. Well to do family all shook up by low class intruders of various kinds. Underrated (II): the importance of the exhilarating music for this movie, providing a perfect match - between dreamy Techno (Tangerine Dream) and "that old time rock 'n roll" (Seger, The Police, Phil Collins, Muddy Waters, Bruce Springsteen). The relationship with De Mornay is amazingly vibrant - the dialogue sharp and cheerful. Everlasting oneliners everywhere. The impression this movie made here in Europe (is that what American highschool life is really about?) can hardly be overrated.
- BandSAboutMovies
- Dec 6, 2019
- Permalink
Words cannot describe how much I loved this movie.
Watching Lana walk around Joels house without any
pants on really made my day.
- johndavis-46184
- Mar 8, 2021
- Permalink
Risky Business is the Quintessential Coming of Age Movies of the 1980's. Tom Cruise in his first memorable leading role, as an upper middle class high school student whose parents leave him "Home Alone" while away. No one has listened to Bob Seger the same since this one. Cruise is truly good in this one. He manages to walk the line between a naive kid, with a lot to learn and the heart throb he evolved into in years to come. Rebecca DeMornay is sexy and captivating in the most memorable role of her life. The supporting cast is very good in this and it is well Directed for sure. This movie is one part Ferris Bueller, one part Home Alone, and 100% Tom Cruise. This one holds up.
- tkdlifemagazine
- Oct 3, 2022
- Permalink
- gene_freak
- Apr 12, 2006
- Permalink
When this film was released, it was during the time of the "teen sex comedy" craze. Films like Class and Porky's were all about seeing scores of horny teens in the most raunchy escapades possible. However, this film and Fast Times at Ridgemont High can be seen as more being a little more serious than the others. Risky Business is definitely a commentary on how greed can corrupt an individual and what the consequences can be. Also, the acting in this film, as well as Fast Times, is light years away from Porky's and all films like it and it will always be a classic parable.
Cruise anchors a classic 80s film that brings parents being gone for vacation and every teenage guy's dreams to live. Akin to Ferris, it's a feel good 90s with a little more naughtiness.
- jeroduptown
- May 30, 2021
- Permalink
Before totally going cliche with Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, I think this is a much needed, realistic, well acted, and much underrated film. Ir established THE BIGGEST SUPERSTAR TOM CRUISE as a star.
- Aman_Goyal
- Aug 11, 2019
- Permalink
Paul Brickman's 'Risky Business' (1983) is a very enjoyable and entertaining teen comedy about the Chicago teenager Joel (Tom Cruise) looking for "fun" at home while his parents are away for awhile. During that time he gets mixed up in a business teenagers should probably stay away from.
This is one of Tom Cruise's first performances in his career. Here we have a very young Cruise in his very early 20s! I genuinely love this film for a few reasons! I love that it is so relatable and that it is realistic. I would not be surprised if this has already happened somewhere around the world! I really don't want to give too much away because I think you'd be better off with the surprise factor turned 'on'!
'Risky Business' has a really clever actors, a great chemistry between all the actors and a very fun story! As a teenager in his early 20s I am the perfect age for this film and I find it very relatable! This film was some really funny moments and Tom Cruise is hilarious! I absolutely loved it and may even call this "one of my favorite movies of all time"! A truly delightful experience that offers itself for so many future repeat viewings! 6/10
This is one of Tom Cruise's first performances in his career. Here we have a very young Cruise in his very early 20s! I genuinely love this film for a few reasons! I love that it is so relatable and that it is realistic. I would not be surprised if this has already happened somewhere around the world! I really don't want to give too much away because I think you'd be better off with the surprise factor turned 'on'!
'Risky Business' has a really clever actors, a great chemistry between all the actors and a very fun story! As a teenager in his early 20s I am the perfect age for this film and I find it very relatable! This film was some really funny moments and Tom Cruise is hilarious! I absolutely loved it and may even call this "one of my favorite movies of all time"! A truly delightful experience that offers itself for so many future repeat viewings! 6/10
- Habibi-Universe
- Sep 28, 2020
- Permalink
I don't know how many Best of the 80s lists "Risky Business" lands on but it should be on all of them. The '80s were a great movie decade. The Teen Movie was one of its great genres. "Risky Business" took that teen genre and showed how great those movies could be. The story, cast, music are all top-notch. I saw is movie in the theater (Sunrise Multiplex, Valley Stream, NY) and many times since. For some reason it fell off my movie rotation. Last night was the first time I've seen "Risky Business" in years. Shame on me. It's one of the greats.
Everyone remembers the scene of Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) dancing around to "Old Time Rock 'N' Roll", but some people may have forgotten some of the movie's other aspects. The plot of course has Goodsen hooking up with prostitute Lana (Rebecca DeMornay), but the movie also shows the takeover by greed in the '80s: Joel's classmates are obsessed with money, and he even asks if people can think about anything else. Oh well. I really liked the scene where people are arriving in the house while "Mannish Boy" is playing (the movie was actually released the year that Muddy Waters died). And it's also surprising now that I know who some of the cast members were: Joe Pantoliano - of "The Goonies", "The Matrix" and "Memento" fame - plays Guido the pimp, and Curtis Armstrong - aka Booger in "Revenge of the Nerds" - plays Miles. Whoa.
- lee_eisenberg
- Jan 14, 2006
- Permalink
Tom Cruise stars in this 80's teen flick that was popular for its time and still has a good message to this very day. Tom playing the innocent Joel Goodson, a kid that is on his way to making it big and getting into a good college until he meets up with the call girl Lana(Rebecca De Mornay). This movie just goes to show you how certain decisions can have different impacts on how the overall picture turns out, and Joel sees and realizes just that. The show was cast perfectly and the music adds to spice the movie up. This is a Warner Bros. classic and I think anyone in their right mind should see it.
Everyone has their own "coming of age" story, and many could probably peddle theirs on the big screen if they worked hard enough at it. "Risky Business" is one example of this age old theme, and a great one for exploring issues such as class conflict, peer pressure and parental expectations, all as they relate to the sexual awakening of a young upper middle class male.
This is the movie that launched Tom Cruise's career, and its success is due in a large part to his great performance as the lead character, Joel Goodson. Joel is an earnest, hard working high school student who wants to do the right thing, but is also possessed with desires (aren't we all) and an intense curiosity about life beyond his well manicured front lawn. To help him explore these desires are three friends who all seem to be a little more experienced and less inhibited than himself. This appears to be the source of much of Joel's problems. Joel, in a nutshell, needs to prove to himself and the world that he is more than just a ""Goodson".
Now one will note that right off the bat, "Risky Business" offers a little more than the usual coming of age fare. There is depth, style, good music and a carefully crafted mingling of dreamlike sequences with real life sequences. All of this serves to create the proper mood for the play out of Joel's inner conflicts. And the conflict that haunts Joel the most in the opening hour of the movie is the one between sex and success. The message: If you pursue one, you will sacrifice the other. Among those hammering home this theme are Joel's parents who fear that one day, the egg they brought into the world will hatch into a bad egg. So what happens when they leave home for a three day weekend, leaving their big house in the suburbs all to Joel? Well, keep an eye on that egg....
Joel is tempted, and the empty house soon becomes a playground for the play out of his fantasies. "Egged" on by his friends, he invites over Lana (Rebecca de Mornay), a beautiful and classy working girl from downtown who represents everything he desires. They have sex, but soon after the fantasy begins to spiral out of control. For one, Lana has friends, and they seem intent on taking over Joel's house. All of this means that Joel's future is now in jeopardy. The egg meanwhile disappears for a time and when it reappears, it now has a crack in it...
OK, so now we have arrived at the nexus of the movie's message, and it is one that many have argued about over the years. Personally, I find it abhorant that anyone's life should be ruled by a credo that says that sex and a successful working life are mutually exclusive. This seems a problem unique to Joel. Yet Joel's solution to this problem is only one of many, and really, I mean, turning your folks house into a cathouse for a few days doesn't rank up there as one of the smartest decisions that a young man could make. But hey, Joel will never be the bad egg that his parents fear, and the risk he took COULD be seen as a sign that he possesses some qualities that will serve him well later in life. Is that why his misdeed lands him a spot at Princeton, and ONLY why? I don't really have a problem with the message, having faced similar circumstances in my own life a long time ago.
Anyway, through it all, Joel maintains a sort of sheepish attitude, smiling his way through much of the movie. But he also gets scared when he's REALLY in trouble (i.e when it comes to Dad's car). Otherwise, he seems way too genuinely nice to be a bad egg. And also, he falls in love with Lana, the scheming working girl and business woman who strangely becomes his mentor, both sexual AND career wise. To me, it all works in a crazy sort of way. His sexual awakening is balanced and augmented by a tutoring in how to respect the power of money. Maybe Joel can have BOTH his sex and his success in life after all...thanks to Lana...?
So, but there is even more to Risky Business than that. Consider the great, hypnotic music by Tangerine Dream,and some truly memorable dreamlike sequences including one on a subway late in the movie. All of this brought emotional impact to the movie in addition to the conflict and inner tension. It was enough to almost bring one to tears. So how can Joel's parents not be happy with the outcome of all this? Joel knows his place in life, and he has securely positioned himself for future success. And that he had this little adventure only broadened his horizons a little while provided him with one heck of a real life fantasy!
In conclusion, all of this secured "Risky Business's" place as probably the best coming of age movie to come out of Hollywood in the 1980's. And it also served as a springboard for Tom Cruise, who was justly praised for making it all happen through Joel Goodson, the earnest and appealing high schooler, who deftly transformed his sexual fantasies into a great career move. "Risky Business" is aptly named, and should not be missed.
This is the movie that launched Tom Cruise's career, and its success is due in a large part to his great performance as the lead character, Joel Goodson. Joel is an earnest, hard working high school student who wants to do the right thing, but is also possessed with desires (aren't we all) and an intense curiosity about life beyond his well manicured front lawn. To help him explore these desires are three friends who all seem to be a little more experienced and less inhibited than himself. This appears to be the source of much of Joel's problems. Joel, in a nutshell, needs to prove to himself and the world that he is more than just a ""Goodson".
Now one will note that right off the bat, "Risky Business" offers a little more than the usual coming of age fare. There is depth, style, good music and a carefully crafted mingling of dreamlike sequences with real life sequences. All of this serves to create the proper mood for the play out of Joel's inner conflicts. And the conflict that haunts Joel the most in the opening hour of the movie is the one between sex and success. The message: If you pursue one, you will sacrifice the other. Among those hammering home this theme are Joel's parents who fear that one day, the egg they brought into the world will hatch into a bad egg. So what happens when they leave home for a three day weekend, leaving their big house in the suburbs all to Joel? Well, keep an eye on that egg....
Joel is tempted, and the empty house soon becomes a playground for the play out of his fantasies. "Egged" on by his friends, he invites over Lana (Rebecca de Mornay), a beautiful and classy working girl from downtown who represents everything he desires. They have sex, but soon after the fantasy begins to spiral out of control. For one, Lana has friends, and they seem intent on taking over Joel's house. All of this means that Joel's future is now in jeopardy. The egg meanwhile disappears for a time and when it reappears, it now has a crack in it...
OK, so now we have arrived at the nexus of the movie's message, and it is one that many have argued about over the years. Personally, I find it abhorant that anyone's life should be ruled by a credo that says that sex and a successful working life are mutually exclusive. This seems a problem unique to Joel. Yet Joel's solution to this problem is only one of many, and really, I mean, turning your folks house into a cathouse for a few days doesn't rank up there as one of the smartest decisions that a young man could make. But hey, Joel will never be the bad egg that his parents fear, and the risk he took COULD be seen as a sign that he possesses some qualities that will serve him well later in life. Is that why his misdeed lands him a spot at Princeton, and ONLY why? I don't really have a problem with the message, having faced similar circumstances in my own life a long time ago.
Anyway, through it all, Joel maintains a sort of sheepish attitude, smiling his way through much of the movie. But he also gets scared when he's REALLY in trouble (i.e when it comes to Dad's car). Otherwise, he seems way too genuinely nice to be a bad egg. And also, he falls in love with Lana, the scheming working girl and business woman who strangely becomes his mentor, both sexual AND career wise. To me, it all works in a crazy sort of way. His sexual awakening is balanced and augmented by a tutoring in how to respect the power of money. Maybe Joel can have BOTH his sex and his success in life after all...thanks to Lana...?
So, but there is even more to Risky Business than that. Consider the great, hypnotic music by Tangerine Dream,and some truly memorable dreamlike sequences including one on a subway late in the movie. All of this brought emotional impact to the movie in addition to the conflict and inner tension. It was enough to almost bring one to tears. So how can Joel's parents not be happy with the outcome of all this? Joel knows his place in life, and he has securely positioned himself for future success. And that he had this little adventure only broadened his horizons a little while provided him with one heck of a real life fantasy!
In conclusion, all of this secured "Risky Business's" place as probably the best coming of age movie to come out of Hollywood in the 1980's. And it also served as a springboard for Tom Cruise, who was justly praised for making it all happen through Joel Goodson, the earnest and appealing high schooler, who deftly transformed his sexual fantasies into a great career move. "Risky Business" is aptly named, and should not be missed.
A must-see classic, featuring great shots of 1980's Chicago. Rebecca De Mornay is beautiful and Tom Cruise is great. It's sad that we didn't get more films from writer/director Paul Brickman..
RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1 Casting - 1/1 Directing - 1/1 Story - 1/1 Writing/Screenplay - 1/1
Total Base Score = 5
Modifiers (+ or -) Originality: 1 Cinematography: 0.5 Soundtrack: 0.5
Total RealReview Rating: 7
RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1 Casting - 1/1 Directing - 1/1 Story - 1/1 Writing/Screenplay - 1/1
Total Base Score = 5
Modifiers (+ or -) Originality: 1 Cinematography: 0.5 Soundtrack: 0.5
Total RealReview Rating: 7
- Real_Review
- May 4, 2019
- Permalink
It's sad to think that RISKY BUSINESS is the film that turned TOM CRUISE into a household name almost overnight--and simply because everyone under 35 who went to see it recognized their own fantasies being played out by a guy who was the antithesis of Andy Hardy.
Well, almost everybody. Not everyone fantasizes about having his parents go away for the week-end so he can hire hookers to spice up his rather inexperienced sex life--and yet, that's the premise that put this film over the top at the box-office.
While TOM CRUISE and REBECCA DeMORNAY do respectable enough jobs in their unbelievable roles, it's just a teen sex comedy with one thing on its mind and it gets pretty tiresome after the first thirty minutes have gone by with everyone concentrating on either sex or money.
True, it's probably a pretty accurate portrait of how trashy American culture has gotten over the years and how youth is wasted on the very young--but the storytelling is never judgmental no matter how boorish the behavior is and there's no lesson in this for anyone to absorb. "Get away with it if you can", seems to be the moral philosophy of the screenplay. In short, it doesn't say a lot about suburban America's middle class cultural values.
Not only does it present teen behavior in the worst possible way, but the blissfully ignorant parenting leaves much to be desired. In fact, the most unbelievable aspect of the story is the way the trusting parents react upon their return.
Summing up: Pretty dismal comedy no matter how you look at it.
Well, almost everybody. Not everyone fantasizes about having his parents go away for the week-end so he can hire hookers to spice up his rather inexperienced sex life--and yet, that's the premise that put this film over the top at the box-office.
While TOM CRUISE and REBECCA DeMORNAY do respectable enough jobs in their unbelievable roles, it's just a teen sex comedy with one thing on its mind and it gets pretty tiresome after the first thirty minutes have gone by with everyone concentrating on either sex or money.
True, it's probably a pretty accurate portrait of how trashy American culture has gotten over the years and how youth is wasted on the very young--but the storytelling is never judgmental no matter how boorish the behavior is and there's no lesson in this for anyone to absorb. "Get away with it if you can", seems to be the moral philosophy of the screenplay. In short, it doesn't say a lot about suburban America's middle class cultural values.
Not only does it present teen behavior in the worst possible way, but the blissfully ignorant parenting leaves much to be desired. In fact, the most unbelievable aspect of the story is the way the trusting parents react upon their return.
Summing up: Pretty dismal comedy no matter how you look at it.