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Risky Business poster

Risky Business

year 1983decade 80sdirector Paul Brickmangenre Comedygenre Satire

96 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Tom Cruise Joel Goodsen
Richard Masur Rutherford
Nicholas Pryor Joel’s father
Janet Carroll Joel’s mother
Shera Danese Vicki

Risky Business | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Jessie Lopez
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

The opening, Miles’s advice, the dance, the Porsche chase, Joel’s pimp transformation and the ending.

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:37Read transcript
  • The opening ten minutes: train credits, dream and poker-table banter about pedaling home to masturbate.
  • Miles's what-the-fuck speech ties risk-taking to freedom, opportunity and business success.
  • The frozen dinner followed by Cruise's Old Time Rock and Roll dance, whose fame now exceeds the movie's.
  • The brief get-off-the-babysitter fantasy, with Ron Dean as the police sergeant.
  • The Porsche chase after leaving the Drake, especially Miles's trig-midterm and killer-pimp line, remembered as a huge theatrical laugh.
  • Miles's throw-up aside and the Porsche slogan payoff cap the chase; Guido tapping the window with a gun abruptly raises the danger.
  • The Porsche rolling into the lake, with convincingly stoned Cruise and the temporary relief before the dock collapses.
  • Joel's unraveling after the accident and frantic run upstairs to Lana are visually inventive.
  • Joel becomes a pimp, recruiting friends and comparing dating costs with paid sex at the burger joint.
  • The brothel party is clearly staged within the familiar house, then Rutherford's arrival produces another surprise and the University of Illinois punchline.
  • Joel buys his belongings back, including the negotiation over the artsy-fartsy object.
  • The released ending's human-fulfillment line and residual hope are defended, though the original lake-view ending also works.
  • Final preferences include Joel's pimp transformation and street recruitment, plus the car chase and Lana's amused reactions.
  • Craig argues that the dance scene overshadowed a richer movie and would not make his personal top ten scenes; he also finds Joel's dress-shirt, underwear and socks outfit strange. — Craig Horlbeck

What’s Aged the Best?

Casting, Cruise, the egg and stereo, role-playing, capitalism, Ray-Bans and Tangerine Dream.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:47Read transcript
  • Parents going out of town as a premise, and the frantic cleanup before their return.
  • Nancy Klopper's casting, following Eddie and the Cruisers and bringing Pantoliano to Guido.
  • Cruise's expressive reactions to Jackie, sex on the train, the ruined Porsche and suspension.
  • The mother's precious crystal egg and father's guarded stereo settings capture familiar parental fixations.
  • Joel and Lana shift between teenage lovers and imitation adult domestic roles.
  • The capitalist narration, the personal-ad wording, Joel denying he is the house and Lana's yes-no-maybe delivery.
  • Ray-Ban Wayfarers reportedly gained enormous sales from the film, with Cruise later doing the same for aviators in Top Gun.
  • The Tangerine Dream score could improve almost any later movie.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Joel watching his parents leave; the catcher-mask phone call and check-cashed sign.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:37Read transcript
  • Joel's perspective during the parents' departure, and his first call to Lana in a catcher's mask with the checks-cashed sign behind him.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Airport access, Chivas and Coke, frozen dinners, savings bonds, poker and teenage enterprise culture.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:30Read transcript
  • Walking into the airport to see departing parents off.
  • Chivas Regal and Coke with a frozen dinner is disgusting but plausibly adolescent.
  • Teenagers named Joel and possessing accessible savings bonds feel dated.
  • The poker players appear not to understand the game.
  • Bronson Pinchot's account suggests Cruise was unpleasant to work with.
  • Future Enterprisers' explicit wealth aspiration seems dated, though social media may simply have replaced it.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

An Eyes Wide Shut prequel; Joel Goodson as Cruise’s second-best role.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:25Read transcript
  • Risky Business can be viewed as a prequel to Eyes Wide Shut, with Joel's experience shaping the later sexually curious doctor.
  • Joel Goodson is ranked Cruise's second-best role after Jerry Maguire, ahead of Charlie in Rain Man and Ron in Born on the Fourth of July; unlike familiar action characters, Joel is unique.

Apex Mountain

Paul Brickman; a split between Risky Business and Say Anything for high-quality eighties teen movies.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:06Read transcript
  • Cruise is rejected and Brickman affirmed. One host chooses this for high-quality 1980 s teen movies over Fast Times, while another prefers Say Anything.
  • Chicago suburban films leads to a four-film grouping: Home Alone, Ferris Bueller, Risky Business and Thief.
  • Porsche receives a strong case for inspiring a generation's aspirations, but no explicit final yes.
  • Pimps loses to earlier cultural examples; In the Air Tonight loses to Miami Vice; Pantoliano and Pinchot are rejected, while De Mornay's later blockbusters challenge this film.
  • The Drake is considered but other appearances, including My Best Friend's Wedding, prevent a settled answer.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

College Joel reunited with Lana, retirement-age Joel, or Joel’s son repeating the adventure.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:57Read transcript
  • Sequel ideas place Lana at Joel's college, at his retirement party, or opposite Joel as a parent whose son repeats the adventure.

Just One Oscar

Brickman’s screenplay or Tangerine Dream’s soundtrack.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:06Read transcript
  • Brickman's screenplay and Tangerine Dream's soundtrack are the two proposed Oscar choices.