{"id":2292,"date":"2007-02-13T15:44:43","date_gmt":"2007-02-13T22:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2292"},"modified":"2021-02-05T16:23:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T23:23:09","slug":"risky-business-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2292","title":{"rendered":"Risky Business (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Are you ready for me?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22953\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile his parents are away, teenager Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) spends the night with an entrepreneurial call girl named Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), who convinces him to turn his house into a temporary brothel.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Get Rich Quick<\/li>\n<li>Prostitutes<\/li>\n<li>Teenagers<\/li>\n<li>Tom Cruise Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAlong with many other critics (see links below), Peary heaps praise upon this early Tom Cruise teenage sex comedy, calling it &#8220;very funny, extremely erotic &#8212; and smart.&#8221; Indeed, there&#8217;s much to recommend about the film: both Cruise and De Mornay do a fine, believable job in their roles; there are plenty of humorous lines (&#8220;I&#8217;ve got a trig midterm tomorrow, and I&#8217;m being chased by Guido the killer pimp!&#8221;); and there are several classic (if not entirely amusing) moments, such as when Cruise rocks out in his BVDs after his parents are gone.<\/p>\n<p>With that said, however, <em>Risky Business<\/em> ultimately comes across as too much of an adolescent-male wish-fulfillment fantasy to hold universal appeal. The women in the film &#8212; seen from Joel&#8217;s point of view &#8212; are all either sex objects (like Lana and her friends) or nagging maternal figures (such as Joel&#8217;s overprotective mom, or the nurse who refuses to write him an excuse at school). Lana herself symbolizes every guy&#8217;s worst fear: a woman so sexually irresistible that she can lure a &#8220;good son&#8221; (Joel&#8217;s last name is &#8220;Goodson&#8221;) to his doom &#8212; though ultimately, of course, our young &#8220;hero&#8221; will prevail. Even her much ballyhooed entrance &#8212; filmed as an ethereal, mist-filled sequence, with Tangerine Dream&#8217;s soundtrack pulsing in the background &#8212; clearly posits Lana as an other-worldly siren with supernatural powers. This smart, sexy, interesting character (she has a back story) is ultimately not given her due; I&#8217;d love to see <em>Risky Business<\/em> shown from <em>her<\/em> perspective. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rebecca De Mornay as the seductive call girl<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-DeMornay-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tom Cruise as the fresh-faced teen whose greatest fantasies and worst nightmares all come true<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Cruise-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Joe Pantoliano (of <em>The Matrix <\/em>and <em>Memento <\/em>fame) as DeMornay&#8217;s &#8220;killer pimp&#8221;, Guido<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Risky-Business-Pimp-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An effectively dream-like soundtrack by Tangerine Dream<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This film remains an icon of early 1980s cinema.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0086200\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/08\/05\/movies\/paul-brickman-s-risky-business.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/risky-business-1983\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/76779.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Are you ready for me?&#8221; Synopsis: While his parents are away, teenager Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) spends the night with an entrepreneurial call girl named Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), who convinces him to turn his house into a temporary brothel. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Comedy Get Rich Quick Prostitutes Teenagers Tom Cruise Films Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Along with many other critics (see links below), Peary heaps praise upon this early Tom Cruise teenage sex comedy, calling it &#8220;very&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2292\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2292"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69012,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions\/69012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}