Risky BusinessFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Risky Business is a 1983 comedy film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It is considered in retrospect to be the film that brought its male lead, Tom Cruise, to prominence.
The film also stars Rebecca De Mornay as Lana and Joe Pantoliano as Guido. It features Curtis Armstrong as Miles, Richard Masur as Rutherford, the Princeton University interviewer and Bronson Pinchot as Barry.
Plot:
Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) is a high school student who lives with his wealthy parents in the North Shore area of Chicago. His father wants him to attend Princeton University, so he participates in Future Enterprisers, an extracurricular activity in which students work in teams to create small businesses.
When his parents go away on a trip, Joel lives it up at home. On the first night, he raids the liquor cabinet, plays the stereo loudly, and dances around the living room in his underwear. Another night, he races his father's Porsche 928, despite his parents' explicit instruction to drive only his mother's car.
The following day, his friend Miles (Curtis Armstrong) suggests that Joel contact a call girl for a "nutsack to da' face". Joel refuses, but Miles calls "Jackie" on his behalf and leaves Joel's address on the answering machine. Jackie (Bruce A. Young) turns out to be a tall, masculine black person (possibly a transvestite). Joel sends Jackie away, but before she leaves, she gives Joel the number for Lana, another prostitute, promising that she's what "every white boy off the lake wants".
That night, Joel is unable to sleep and hesitantly calls Lana (Rebecca De Mornay). She visits him that evening. She is a stunning blonde. They spend a heated night together.
The following morning, Lana asks Joel for $300. She agrees to wait while he goes to the bank to get the money; however, when he returns, Lana is gone, along with his mother's expensive Steuben glass egg.
Joel and Miles go to the Drake Hotel, where Jackie says Lana will be. Joel sees Lana, but only waves at her before leaving. As they are leaving, Lana asks Joel for a ride. As they sit in the car, Joel demands the egg back in exchange for the ride. Lana agrees, but as the discussion continues, the car is approached by Lana's pimp, Guido (Joe Pantoliano), who pulls a gun. Joel (in his father's Porsche) is chased in his car by Guido, but eventually escapes.
The next morning, Lana tells Joel that the egg is with the rest of her stuff at Guido's. Joel lets Lana stay while he goes to school. When he returns, his friends are over, and Lana has invited another prostitute, Vicky, to stay. They agree that the stay is only temporary. Later Lana mentions to Joel that "we should get your friends and my friends together. We'd make a lot of money." Joel rejects the idea.
That night, Joel, Lana, Vicky, and Joel's friend Barry (Bronson Pinchot) go out. They get stoned, and while Vicky and Barry wander away, Joel and Lana talk. Joel says something that Lana takes as judgmental, and she leaves. Moments later, the car rolls down the hill where Joel has parked and onto a pier. The pier collapses, and his father's Porsche falls into Lake Michigan.
Joel takes the car to a repair shop. Later he goes to school and argues with the school registrar that if his absence is labeled as unexcused, he will fail two midterms. The confrontation causes him to be punished with a five day suspension and his expulsion from Future Enterprisers. Exasperated, he goes to visit Lana, and they are reunited.
Joel and Lana arrange a huge party, turning his parents' house into a brothel for a night. Joel describes arranging the event using the same terms as creating the product for his Future Enterprisers business.
The party is a huge success, and the house is packed with young men and prostitutes. However, Joel has forgotten that the interviewer from Princeton (Richard Masur) is still coming by to evaluate Joel. The interview is plagued by interruptions, and the interviewer does not seem impressed by Joel's resume, telling him: "You've done some solid work, but it's just not Ivy League now, is it?" Later, Joel gets a call from his parents, reminding him of their flight home. After the party, Joel and Lana go out and have sex on the Chicago 'L'.
The next morning, Joel finds his house has been burglarized. When he tries to call Lana, Guido answers. He tells Joel he that he will let him buy his furniture. Fortunately, Joel and his friends manage to get everything moved back in just as his parents walk in, though his mother notices a crack in her egg. Joel tries to make amends by doing some extra housework. While he is watering the lawn, his father appears and congratulates him: the interviewer was very impressed, and has indicated Joel will be accepted into Princeton.
Later, Joel meets Lana at a restaurant, and they speculate about their future. Joel asks Lana if everything had been a setup; she tells him it was not. As they walk, she tells him that she wants to keep on seeing him; he jokes with her that it will cost her, reenacting the earlier scene where Lana asks Joel for $300.
Cast:
* Tom Cruise as Joel Goodson
* Rebecca De Mornay as Lana
* Joe Pantoliano as Guido
* Richard Masur as Rutherford
* Bronson Pinchot as Barry
* Curtis Armstrong as Miles
* Nicholas Pryor as Mr. Goodson
* Janet Carroll as Mrs. Goodson
* Shera Danese as Vicki
* Raphael Sbarge as Eric
* Bruce A. Young as Jackie
Reception:
Janet Maslin, in her 1983 review of the film for the New York Times, called it "part satire, part would-be suburban poetry and part shameless showing off" and said the film "shows an abundance of style", though "you would be hard pressed to find a film whose hero's problems are of less concern to the world at large." She called De Mornay "disarming as a call girl who looks more like a college girl" and credits Cruise with making "Joel's transformation from straight arrow to entrepreneur about as credible as it can be made."
Roger Ebert was much more positive, calling it a movie of "new faces and inspired insights and genuine laughs" and "one of the smartest, funniest, most perceptive satires in a long time" that "not only invites comparison with The Graduate, it earns it".
Ebert continued:
The very best thing about the movie is its dialogue. Paul Brickman, who wrote and directed, has an ear so good that he knows what to leave out. This is one of those movies where a few words or a single line says everything that needs to be said, implies everything that needs to be implied, and gets a laugh. When the hooker tells the kid, "Oh, Joel, go to school. Learn something," the precise inflection of those words defines their relationship for the next three scenes.
Variety said the film was like a "promising first novel, with all the pros and cons that come with that territory" and complimented Brickman on "the stylishness and talent of his direction."
In 2006, the film was 40th on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies; the magazine called the film a "sharp satire of privileged suburban teens" about the "soul-crushing pressure to be perfect."
Risky Business [Blu-ray]Directed by Paul Brickman
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #342 in DVD
- Released on: 2008-09-16
- Rating: R (Restricted)
- Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
- Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Original recording remastered, Restored, Widescreen
- Original language: English, German
- Number of discs: 2
- Running time: 99 minutes
Amazon.com essential video
Little did Tom Cruise know that he would become a box-office superstar after he cranked up some Bob Seeger and played air guitar in his underwear. But there's more to this 1983 hit than the arrival of a hot young star. Making a stylish debut, writer-director Paul Brickman crafted a subtle satire of crass materialism wrapped in an irresistible plot about a crafty high schooler named Joel (Cruise) who goes into risky business with the beguiling prostitute Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) while his parents are out of town. Joel turns his affluent Chicago-suburb home into a lucrative bordello and forms a steamy personal and professional partnership with Lana, but only as long as the two can avoid the vengeful pimp Guido (Joe Pantoliano) and keep their customers happy. A signature film of the 1980s, Risky Business still holds up thanks to Cruise's effortless charm and the movie's timeless appeal as an adolescent male fantasy. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
A Must For A Child of The 80s
One of the real gems of this new 25th Anniversary DVD set is "The Dream is Always the Same": The Story of Risky Business. This documentary provides great insight into all the hurdles Risky Business encountered on its way to the silver screen, with interviews with all the main cast members and Paul Brickman.
The other great addition to this 80's classic is the original ending that Paul Brickman wanted the audience to see in the film. The original ending, as shot by Brickman, had Joel Goodsen being shown as the strong one and Lana the weak one. However, the studios wanted a happier ending and changed it before it was sent to theaters.
"Ferris Bueller" meets existentialism
"Risky Business" is, in my opinion, along the same lines as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", only deeper, more emotional, and very existential. Just as the theme of Ferris Bueller was that life might pass you buy if you don't stop to smell the roses, the theme of Risky Business is, as stated by the dude from Revenge of the Nerds, "sometimes you just have to say 'What the f*%#!'."
This film goes deeper, however, as it enters the realm of strong sexual longings that anyone of the late teens/early 20s knows all too well, as well as the pressures of parents and of society to "succeed": get into a good college, impress "the man", make your parents dreams a reality, and wear a white collar for the rest of your life. "Risky Business" asks: is it really worth it to sacrifice the experience of life (in this case, the surge of excitement, bittersweet memories, and longing of the late teens/early 20s) just to "be the best you can be"?
The haunting soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, one of my favorite bands, amplifies the bittersweet, reminiscent atmopshere excellently, especially 'Love on a Real Train', which accompanies one of the most haunting and bittersweet scenes in the film and is arguably the most well-known Tangerine Dream track ever, and for good reason.
Like 'The Breakfast Club', this is one of the 80s teen coming-of-age flicks which retains its distinct 80s flavor and relevance to the era as well as being utterly timeless. A masterpiece.
Time of your life, huh kid?
Risky Business is a fantastic movie, much more complex than the standard teen fare at the time. Great music by Tangerine Dream (written especially for the movie) and strong performances from its young cast, most notably a nineteen year old Tom Cruise and twenty four year old Rebecca De Mornay. (Small side note: Cruise and De Mornay lived together for over two years after making the movie, so the chemistry on-screen must have been pretty real!)
The original end of the movie was much darker than the happy, everything turns out okay version that was released. Both versions were filmed and shown to a test audience, which preferred the happier, lighter version. The original has (to my knowledge) never been released in any form, and I was concerned that it had been lost.
I'm very happy to report that this 25th anniversary release is planned to include a new making-of documentary along with the alternate ending and commentary by Tom Cruise, director Paul Brickman, and producer Jon Avnet.
So, it appears that this is what Risky Business fans have been waiting since 1983 to see! The DVD is scheduled for release on September 16th, so we'll have to wait just a little longer. Keep in mind also that while the press information is normally correct, all of it is subject to change prior to release. But, it certainly looks very promising.
Sean P. Logue, 2008
Risky Business (Deluxe Edition)
