Top 10 Movies of 1983: Risky Business
Okay! Before we talk about some business that’s risqué, let’s talk domestic versus international gross! I’ve talked to some friends about my top 10 list as compared to theirs, and unsurprisingly, domestic vs international makes a big difference! I’m using the domestic gross for 1983, but as my luck would have it if I’d used the international gross, I would have saved myself from watching Vacation (it was #11) and would have added Terms of Endearment (#2 international, #22! domestic), but oh well, it is what it is. Moving on to today’s review!
#8 Risky Business
Released: August 5, 1983
Gross: $63,541,777
Have I seen this movie before? Nope
Of course, I was familiar with Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear, but apart from that, I’m ashamed to admit I had no idea what this movie was about. To boil it down pretty simply, when Joel’s (Tom Cruise) parents go out of town, his friend Miles tells him he should live it up a bit before he goes off to college. Joel’s version of this is raiding the liquor cabinet, dancing in his underwear around the house and joyriding his dad’s fancy car. Apparently, Miles thinks this is far too tame and calls a sex worker, Jackie, to visit Joel. Now, I have to hand it to the movie; when Joel finds this out and that Jackie is trans (or at least a man in women’s clothing - it’s not made clear how they identify), he isn’t disgusted, more embarrassed that they’ve made the trip out for nothing. So much so that Joel pays Jackie for their time, and in return, Jackie gives Joel the number of someone who’s probably more up his alley, Lana (Rebecca DeMornay - who I’m more familiar with from 1993’s Three Musketeers). It turns out that Lana sure is up Joel’s alley, but she’s also very pricey, a lot more than the money his parents left him when they went away (and I have a feeling they were thinking more along the lines of pizza). So he leaves her, this woman he literally just met, alone in his fancy Chicago suburb home to go cash a savings bond to pay her. Guys. Like, I know it’s a movie, and it’s set in the 80s, but do you know anyone who would leave a complete stranger alone in their house?! He could have easily had her come with him to the bank! But then again, her being left alone leads her to steal Joel’s mother’s fancy crystal egg, which is the driving force for all the drama to follow, BUT WHO DOES THIS?!
ANYWAYS. Moving on from that big ol’ plot hole, Joel finds himself enamoured with Lana, despite her thieving ways and decides to let her stay at his house while trying to figure out to get the egg back from under her pimp’s roof. Instead, he angers the pimp, and then, after a night out with Lana and a couple friends he knocks his dad’s Porsche into Lake Michigan. When he finds out how much it will cost to fix the Porsche (a lot more than he has in bonds) in a ‘that escalated quickly’ kind of moment, he and Lana decide to turn his house into a brothel for a night to make the money to pay for the repairs. The night’s a huge success, but when he gets back from picking up the car up from the mechanic his house is devoid of furniture. Needless to say, Lana’s pimp is pretty mad at Joel, so in maybe the prettiest move of all time he steals all of his furniture and forces him to buy it back - good thing the brothel was such a hit, ‘cause Joel uses the last of the profits to return his house to normal before his parents get back from their trip.
I don’t know folks, this movie was pretty good, but I clearly wasn’t the target audience. That being said, it has a fair amount of humour, a great soundtrack, some jabs at Reagan-era greed and classism, and a few great, ‘OMG IS THAT?! moments’ - particularly with Joe Pantaliano and Bronson Pinchot.