Risky Business (1983)

Risky Business

• JUST TAKE THOSE OLD RECORDS OFF THE SHELF! I’ve been meaning to watch this for quite some time, so now that I finally own the Criterion 4K version, I figured I didn’t have any excuse. Now, I do think that I was slightly disappointed by this. It wasn’t bad at all, I think I just got my expectations a little too high. I also didn’t know what to expect going into it, so I think it took some time for me to settle into it. Once I did, I did stay entertained, but it did feel like a silly 80’s film for a lot of it. Which, again, isn’t bad at all. It was kind of like ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ meets ‘The Apartment’ meets ‘Good Burger’. There’s a lot of similar elements from this that I’ve seen in other films of the era. But young Tom Cruise (or heck, any version of Tom Cruise) was great in this. He plays the role well. The story revolves around him having some typical (or atypical) misadventures while his parents are away, and it all spirals out of control. Much like Ferris Bueller. I think the best thing the film did was center the events around the mind and wants of a teenage guy. There’s a lot of moments that are very relatable. But on that note, when it uses those wants, it does become very unrealistic and corny. Kind of in a good way, but also in a way where it’s easy to laugh at. Just don’t try to take it too seriously. Lastly, the soundtrack was easily the best part of the whole film. It stuck out amazingly, and adds such a great vibe to it. A stereotypical, cliche vibe, but still an awesome vibe. There’s great needle drops from Bob Seger, Phil Collins, and Talking Heads, the latter which I was especially happy about. Overall, this wasn’t the greatest ever, but it still has its awesome moments. The first and third act were great, but the second act fell off a little bit. But I could see this being rated higher on a rewatch. We’ll see. I’d recommend this to most 80’s drama/comedy fans.