Risky Business (1983) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Risky Business (1983) |
| Director | Paul Brickman |
| Screenplay Writer | Paul Brickman |
| Based on Novel by | (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano |
| Cast | Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur, Bronson Pinchot, Curtis Armstrong, Raphael Sbarge, Janet Carroll |
| Genre | Comedy, Crime, Drama |
| Release Date | August 5, 1983 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 39m (99 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$6.2 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | $63.5 million |
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Summary
High school senior and (aptly-named) good son Joel Goodson is determined to let loose while his parents are out of town. Things quickly get out of hand, however, thanks to a liaison with a prostitute and a debacle in his dad’s Porsche.
Review
Most of us could do without Tom Cruise dancing to Bob Seger in his underwear. Thankfully, Risky Business gives us a lot more than its most famous scene. In addition to being the launch pad of Cruise’s career, it inspired a line of teen-angst drama comedies from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off through the more recent American Pie films. It provides a look inside the mind of average high school male Joel Goodson (Cruise) through a storyline too absurd to take seriously.
As viewers, you’re just along for the ride and the bevy of funny scenes, which is why it works so well. As a better than average student and high school senior, Joel is not nerdy but certainly not a cool kid either. So when he tries to behave rebelliously when his parents finally leave him alone in the house, it’s a comic disaster waiting to happen.
Goaded by his friends into feeling that illicitly “cruising” around in his father’s Porsche isn’t enough, Joel decides to get himself laid. He is given the name of a call girl, Lana, played by foxy babe of yore Rebecca DeMornay. After some stimulating scenes with Lana, Joel unexpectedly finds friendship with the suave beauty. And then some. When Lana ends her partnership with killer pimp Guido (Pantoliano), she turns to Joel for protection.
When Joel drives the Porsche of a Chicago pier and needs a lot of cash fast, they devise a fundraising plan using the Goodson home as a brothel for a night. Naturally! As dumb as it sounds, the story is directed with style and well acted out by all involved. Pantoliano is hilarious as Guido, and even Joel’s friends (Bronson Pinchot of “Perfect Strangers” fame among them) deliver some choice lines. Not cinematic art, but damn entertaining.
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