What distinguishes it, however, is that it's hovering permanently on the brink of stark, staring disaster in a way that strangely recalls The Graduate.
Comment
02/09/06
Risky Business (1983)
98
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:41
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Featuring one of Tom Cruise's best early performances, Risky Business is a sharp, funny examination of teen angst that doesn't stop short of exploring dark themes.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Joel Goodson is the type of teenager who makes his parents proud: he's nice, handsome, intelligent, and even principled. But when Joel's parents leave town for a few days, a series of events occur... [More]
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Curtis Armstrong, Bronson Pinchot
Director: Paul Brickman
Reviews for Risky Business
Top CriticGood '80's teen movie with a suitable soundtrack and the loveable Cruise displaying his new found starry confidence.
08/06/07
Top CriticDe Mornay does sterling work as the helpful hooker, but this is Cruise's big chance, and he relishes it, putting in a believable and likeable performance.
04/01/08
Top Criticinvolving and entertaining
09/19/04
A movie that is part caper comedy, part suburban satire, and all Eighties.
03/10/03
It's easy to forget the idiosyncracies of a film that so successfully trades on adolescent male fantasies and nightmares. [Blu-ray]
09/28/08
It's funny because it deals with subjects that are so touchy, so fraught with emotional pain, that unless we laugh there's hardly any way we can deal with them -- especially if we are now, or ever were, a teenage boy.
10/23/04
Top CriticDespite its dated feel, this film has an interesting premise, great style and good acting.
01/01/00
One of the finest film explorations of the end of innocence.
08/06/07
A taut, bitter, sharp and nearly flawless film.
12/08/02
A capitalist wet dream; one that we have long since woken up from screaming.
07/16/09
Paul Brickman makes a splashy debut with a stylish youth satire that conveys more vividly Reagonomics and the corrupt and decadent decade of 1980s than serious dramas like Wall Street; it's also a wonderful showcase for Tom Cruise, who became a star.
04/25/07
[The film] improves as it goes along.
05/20/03
Top CriticThe roots of American Beauty can all be found in this groundbreaking film.
11/29/01
It works well as a comedy but one cringes at the thought that it defined, for a while, the social expectations of a generation.
06/25/08
Writer-director Paul Brickman can therefore be accused of trying to have it both ways, but there's no denying the stylishness and talent of his direction.
08/06/07
Top CriticThis film is deftly made, the humor nicely understated, the leading actors (Tom Cruise and Rebecca de Mornay) smart and appealing.
06/24/08
Top CriticOne of the key films of the 1980s, and proof that a teen sex comedy could merit serious consideration.
08/06/07
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/30/09
Now classic Cruise-in-briefs highlights the goings on.
10/14/05
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