Risky Business
Right from the get-go, itâs pretty clear that writer-director Paul Brickman is nowhere in the ballpark of John Hughes when it comes to 80s teen angst (and probably why he has only directed one other film in the 25+ years since): The dialogue fails to be deep and insightful (âWhat the fuck?â seems to be the catchphrase of the script), the morals and themes are shallow and make no reservations that money is the key to all happiness, and the female characters are essentially all prostitutes, with zero emphasis given as to how these high school boys deal with the opposite sex their own age. In the role that made him a household name, Tom Cruise grins wildly when the story calls for it, acts melancholy when the time is right, and with his now-iconic underwear dance to Bob Seger, comes off as wildly narcissistic as well. The impression this viewer gets is that his Joel Goodson has been set up from the get-go by the beautiful prostitute that he calls along with her pimp (despite the outward appearance of problems between the two) after she spends the night with him and then has to haggle with him over the money owed. This leads to the kid trying to make things right with her for the rest of the movie as he continues to be taken advantage of (he leaves her not once but TWICE in his house alone, with disastrous results) and finally agrees to host a hooker party at his house, inviting all of the biggest dweebs, dorks, and losers to his house so they can spend their savings bonds in order to finally get laid (since apparently all the girls at their school must be frigid) and make some money in the process, which the pimp wastes no time quickly scamming off him. Itâs obvious to tell from this description that despite being hailed as one of the âgreatestâ comedies of the 80s, this is truly a film with no heart, no soul, and little to nothing to get the viewer emotionally invested in. Thereâs some interest in the supporting cast, all of whom went on to have big careers: Rebecca De Mornay as the hooker is sexy and charismatic as hell, while still projecting that aura of danger that she channeled so well in her later roles; Joe Pantoliano as the pimp Guido gets a couple of good lines and brings some energy to the piece as well; and two of Cruiseâs high school buddies are played by Curtis âBoogerâ Armstrong and Bronson âBalkiâ Pinchot (who later claimed in interviews that Cruise spent all of his time on set making gay jokes). Brickman was obviously trying to appeal to the teen boy audience by depicting the thrill of having the house to yourself for the first time, but the story that comes afterward is so repellent that itâs certainly a turn-off to any adult viewer, right down to having the Princeton admissions officer (Richard Masur) allow Cruise to be accepted to the Ivy League college in exchange for getting laid by one of the hookers. The film benefits from having a good soundtrack by Tangerine Dream and songs from Seger (âOld Time Rock N Rollâ), Phil Collins (âIn The Air Tonightâ), and Bruce Springsteen (âHungry Heartâ), among others, but the plot holes the script provides, most notably in the form of Cruiseâs incredibly dense parents, who come back to their home two days removed from a night when literally HUNDREDS of sexual acts occurred under their roof, and donât seem to notice a thing (nor did the neighbors seem to notice anything), sinks this film the same way their Porsche sinks into the river (but somehow is still amazingly repaired with little to no aftereffects). Worst of all, for a âcomedy dramaâ, the film is just not that funny, nor do the dramatic elements move one to any kind of emotion. In the end, a film that corners the market on being THE most overrated film of the decade, with nowhere near the lasting effect that so many other classics of that time have hadâŚ
4/10