Directed by: Paul Brickman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca DeMornay, Curtis Armstrong, Bronson Pinchot, Nicholas Pryor, Janet Carroll, Joe Pantoliano
Risky Business launched the now decades-long superstardom of Tom Cruise with the iconic scene of Cruise dancing in his underwear to Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll. The scene is significant because it allows us to see Joel Goodson (Cruise) as a teenager should be; free, irresponsible at times, and letting loose after his folks go away on vacation for a week. Joel is a straight A-student with his eye on Princeton and a bright future ahead. Then, he encounters a call girl named Lana (DeMornay), who teaches him a little more about life than he expected.
Joel didn't intend to have the events that unfold in Risky Business happen to him. He is content to have his buddies over for poker and hang out, but after a pep talk from his buddy Miles (Armstrong), ("Sometimes you have to say 'What the fuck'), he decides to be a little more daring. He gets horny one night, contacts a call girl, and finds Lana at his doorstep. She is not much older than high school senior Joel, but she is more worldly and mature. She is full of cynicism, but she likes the kid. "Go to school, Joel, learn something," she tells Joel the morning after. He learns something all right.
Joel runs afoul of Lana's pimp, Guido (the indispensable Pantoliano), who isn't fond of the fact that Joel takes up so much of Lana's time without paying for it. Lana thinks Joel can make some cash turning his house into a one-night brothel where her co-workers and his horny friends can hook up. Joel surely needs it, especially after his father's Porsche winds up at the bottom of Lake Michigan. We see Joel and Lana not exactly fall in love, but certainly fall into heavy-like. Assuming Joel doesn't mess up his future during his week of freedom, he will be off to college in the fall and Lana will continue down the road of eking out a living as a call girl. It is a pity because Lana has a head for business, and to quote Working Girl (1988), "a bod for sin". She is as street smart as Joel is book smart and it is fun to see them play off each other. Cruise and DeMornay have undeniable chemistry. We see Joel gain an edge while Lana softens hers somewhat. Cruise is immensely likable and has kept on being likable for three decades.
Risky Business is slick film making with a heavy-synthesizer laden score by Tangerine Dream. It is about the pursuit of sex, money, and security, not necessarily in that order. The movie is certainly cynical, but it is also tender and sweet in its depiction of two people; one from a plush, protected suburban world and the other from a grittier, urban background, learning to understand and relate to each other. This is the heart of Risky Business, which sees sex as an opportunity to make some quick cash, while seeing love as an opportunity for a longer term investment.
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