You might not like him now, but if you were of a certain age during the 1980's you will have loved him; Tom Cruise is an actor who has continuously delivered throughout his career, even the movies that nobody liked still took money, but back when every Cruise movie was a gem, Risky Business was the best of his early works.
When you're a kid your hopes and aspirations are to be SOMEBODY, Risky Business takes this thought and flips it on an access you might not expect. Risky Business all round for this movie however, director Paul Brickman took a chance on an actor nobody knew (although The Outsiders had been made it was not released) whilst also addressing a subject that most would have turned away from.
This is a dark teen comedy that makes no bones about its mission statement; starting from train level as the credits roll we see a night time view of Chicago, there is something edgy about the title sequence and the Tangerine Dream score. It's at this point
that the movie changes and proceeds down the teen comedy strand with Cruise as Joel Goodson hanging around with his mates talking about girls and sex, but how most of them having been in the position to have sex had walked away.
The movie frequently flicks from dark to light; Cruise parading round his living room listening to Springsteen in a pair of Calvin Klien Y-Fronts like a typical kid is far removed from the next scene where he hires a prostitute to finally loose his virginity. It's this passage that starts the business end of Risky Business, while Joel's parents are away his chance encounter with Lana played by the incredibly hot Rebecca De Mournay turns Joel into a business entrepreneur as he turns his family home into a bordello. And if you think the prostitution end is the dark aspect, you'll be wrong because Joel has to contend with vile pimp Guido played by Sopranos actor Joe Pantoliano.
I remember as a child everyone talking about Risky Business, it was one of the only legal movies that people really talked about, a scene on a train being an incredibly hot moment whether you were male or female, because the pairing of this beautiful couple appealed to all, the same scene making Phil Collins a smash hit for school disco's. This is one of those adult movies designed for kids; in the UK the imposing of an 18 certificate however chopped its target audience in half. Luckily the birth of video meant that the movie that was talked about in whispers became available to all. In the cold light of day, and with 25 years under the movies belt it does not seem anywhere near as risky now as it was back then, although if you have not seen it before a screening might well make you understand why.
Risky Business' comedic moments are razor shark, this was unlike anything else around at the time. Even the funniest bits were weighed heavily into the cause and effect system, each positive action having a bigger negative action. It's this cause and effect attribute that keeps the movie going right up to the very end as the final credits of the movie roll.
I enjoyed Risky Business back in the early 80's as much as I do now, though others are bound to disagree it's a modern cinematic classic; there are few movies that have the same appeal then as they do now. Those movies take a special sort of director, a special form of writer and a team of phenomenal actors. Risky Business is more than just the sum of its parts in movie terms; Calvin Klien claims the movie was the single best thing that happened to his fashion career. Although successful with Genesis Phil Collins would never have had the success with In The Air Tonight (and a successful solo career) had it not been for this movie, because it was the teenagers buying the record. Three unknown actors in the form of Cruise, De Mourney, and Curtis Armstrong all got big breaks as a result of the movie, what they did from this leaping start from there on was up to them.
Tangerine Dreams haunting musical score, is the ultimate set piece to this classic movie of the 1980's.
Finally before I sign off the movie despite its journey has a strong moral message, it's all about trust, respect, love and how you treat it.
Risky Business is available from play.com for £5.99 the DVD has no special features.
Spencer Hawken 03/08
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(+) Because of the new series the box set isn't complete, which means it will be cheaper! (-) It isnt the complete box set so you'll have to buy the new dvds seperatly or wait for the new set!
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