Risky Business (1983)

A Chicago teenager is looking for fun at home while his parents are away, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.

Director:

Paul Brickman

Writer:

Paul Brickman

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Joel Goodsen
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Lana
Joe Pantoliano	...	Guido
Richard Masur	...	Rutherford
Bronson Pinchot	...	Barry
Curtis Armstrong	...	Miles
Nicholas Pryor	...	Joel's Father
Janet Carroll	...	Joel's Mother
Shera Danese	...	Vicki
Raphael Sbarge	...	Glenn
Bruce A. Young	...	Jackie
Kevin Anderson	...	Chuck (as Kevin C. Anderson)
Sarah Partridge	...	Kessler
Nathan Davis	...	Business Teacher
Scott Harlan	...	Stan Licata

Storyline

A suburban Chicago teenager's parents leave on vacation, and he cuts loose. An unauthorised trip in his father's Porsche means a sudden need for lots of money, which he raises in a creative way.

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Plot Keywords:

porsche | friend | lake michigan | house | money | 

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Taglines:

Joel had all the normal teenage fantasies...cars, girls, money. Then his parents left for a week, and all his fantasies came true. [UK Theatrical]

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

5 August 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Negocios riesgosos

Filming Locations:

Dundee Road NW Exit, Skokie Hwy, Northbrook, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,200,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$63,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geffen Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sharon Stone auditioned for the role of Lana.

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Goofs

After Joel's father rants about the equalizer, he goes to turn the stereo and equalizer off but actually turns the equalizer on.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joel Goodson: [voiceover] The dream is always the same. Instead of going home, I go to the neighbors'. I ring, but nobody answers. The door is open, so I go inside. I'm looking around for the people, but nobody seems to be there. And then I hear the shower running, so I go upstairs to see what's what. Then I see her; this... girl, this incredible girl. I mean, what she's doing there I don't know, because she doesn't live there... but it's a dream, so I go with it. "Who's there?" she says. "Joel,"...

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Connections

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

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Soundtracks

"Old Time Rock and Roll"
Written by George Jackson (uncredited) and Tom Jones III (uncredited)
Performed by Bob Seger
Courtesy of Capitol Records

User Reviews

She's In Product, He's In Sales

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.