Review of Risky Business (1983) by Spangle — 12 Jan 2017

A classic 1980s teen coming of age comedy, Risky Business is certainly a unique film. The story of a young man, Joel (Tom Cruise), whose parents leave town and give him the house for the weekend, the film certainly goes in a direction that it is unexpected. This is all kicked off when one of his friends jokingly calls a prostitute and, after a black transvestite shows up and recommends somebody more Joel's speed, he is introduced to young prostitute Lana (Rebecca De Mornay). What ensues is a week of debauchery, chaos, college interviews, and studying. A neo-noir esque coming of age tale of materialism and capitalism, Risky Business earns its classic status with solid performances from its cast and an infectious feeling of fun and audacity that permeates the whole film.

As may be clear, one of the biggest issues for Risky Business is its plot. While it works as a comment on the state of society for high schoolers and the trepidation one feels when heading to college, its plot is a bit far fetched. A high school guy strikes up a constant companionship with a prostitute over the course of a week and opens a brothel? That is a little too crazy and can somewhat hurt the film as a relatable story of teen angst. While Tom Cruise finds his spots to bring it back to its roots as a coming of age story, the story often brings the film into a completely new genre with a variety of different thematic explorations that feel out of place in a coming of age film. Fortunately, this is not your run-of-the-mill coming of age film and, while the plot is a bit much, it does help set up the greatest strength of the film.

That strength is its visual style. Films such as Michael Mann's Collateral or Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive feel like later successors to the way in which director Paul Brickman catches suburban Chicago at night time. With neon covered landscapes and Joel even having a neon sign in his room, Risky Business is one of the first films of the neon revolution and feels oddly digitalized for a film that obviously was not. Adding to the equation is a neo-noir take on the coming of age film with Rebecca De Mornay portraying the seductive and sensual femme fatale, Lana. Always convincing Joel to make bad decisions, she is the very definition of a dangerous woman and is one who lets the plot unfold through this guidance. Constantly finding himself between a rock and a hard place because he cannot escape the clutches of her beauty, Joel succumbs to her every whim. Adding this to the aesthetic of the film, it feels like Risky Business is often a unique take on adding neo-noir style and some of its story conventions to the coming of age story, which honestly, works because of capable direction and lustfully great turn from Rebecca De Mornay who defines sex in the film. At one point, she wears a fedora-esque hat with a jacket and skirt and somehow even that looks brilliant on her, so it is not hard to see Joel following her around like a puppy dog.

Akin to Drive again, Risky Business also features a vintage 1980s synth score courtesy of Tangerine Dream that certainly adds to that neo-noir feeling of the film for me. That said, the score pales in comparison to the scene in which Joel has sex with Lana on a train as we hear "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. It is impossible to deny that the song itself is a masterpiece, so adding it to a sex scene on a train only serves to make that one of the most iconic sex scenes off all-time. Of course, where the film finds success is also in its destruction of innocence. This scene goes a long way to doing that as Joel is a charming, smart, and thoroughly innocent young man who has only dreamed of doing something with a woman. Thus, the situation he finds himself in with Lana is beyond foreign and almost surreal. Cruise pulls this off with an always charming and charismatic turn that may not always stick the landing, but it does hint at his potential to become a top-notch actor.

Yet, the film finds some great success in its exploration of themes such as materialism. Constantly trying to replace stolen and valuable possessions of his parents, Joel still draws ire from his parents when a glass egg has a miniscule crack inside of it. This really drives home just how important these material goods are to his parents and also all of Joel's friends who come from a similar silver spoon lifestyle and are the very definition of preppy. All of them really define materialism and the final results of the American dream for kids whose parents have made it big, as they are all entitled, spoiled, and convinced the world owes them something for just being themselves. With capable performances, Risky Business highlights yet another good 1980s teen comedy actress whose filmography unfortunately turned into a who's who of movies nobody has seen in 20 years. That said, De Mornay makes the most of her premier role, as does the future superstar Tom Cruise.