Risky Business

By: Jack Hunt 3.20.2009

The Movie Itself:
“Let’s go make love on a real train,”

Who hasn’t had the fantasy? The beautiful.. no, intriguing girl you once knew or maybe even didn’t. Maybe she was a call girl, maybe she wasn’t; but we are all pretty much strangers. You wonder what if? What if we just got naked right here, right now and did it. No one’s around, but the threat of being caught is intense. It will just make it that much hotter. Would you like that? You’d probably say no, but I know you lie. I must apologize for the verbal molestation; it only serves to illustrate my point that men are remarkably driven by sexual desires...but don’t think you’re getting off that easy ladies, this works both ways. Women are not immune to the fantasy. It’s mostly because of this film that I don’t think anyone hasn’t had that fantasy. Hey, you never know? It’s in the air tonight.

“The dream is always the same. Instead of going home, I go to the neighbors'. I ring, but nobody answers. The door is open, so I go inside. I'm looking around for the people, but nobody seems to be there. And then I hear the shower running, so I go upstairs to see what's what. Then I see her; this... girl, this incredible girl. I mean, what she's doing there I don't know, because she doesn't live there... but it's a dream, so I go with it. "Who's there?" she says. "Joel," I say. "What are you doing here?" I don't know what I'm doing here; what are *you* doing here? "I'm taking a shower," she says. Then I give her: "You want me to go?" "No,” she says; "I want you to wash my back." So now, I'm getting enthusiastic about this dream. So I go to her, but she's hard to find through all the steam and stuff; I keep losing her. Finally I get to the door... and I... find myself in a room full of kids taking their college boards. I'm over three hours late; I've got two minutes to take the whole test. I've... just made a terrible mistake. I'll never get to college. My life is ruined.”

With that, a little over 4 minutes into the film and I’m already hooked. I couldn’t turn this movie off even if my house was on fire. Probably one of the most memorable opening sequences to an intelligent comedy I’ve ever seen. While the late 70’s and early 80’s were filled with raunchy and hip comedies like ‘Animal House’ and ‘Revenge of the Nerds,’ that go for gross you out laughs, ‘Risky Business’ would take the genre to a new level. Coming from a different view point, an intelligent almost romantic plight. Still the sex was there, but this film took it to the next level. It made the cross between a comedy and sex on the big screen one thing it never was, hot. Broad sex comedies are usually not my thing, but Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise were smoking in this film. Sex with a stranger is the resounding theme, but hell I can’t connect the two. I can’t really imagine falling in love with someone based on sex alone. She’s a beautiful creation though. ‘Risky Business’ is not your average teen comedy and is unique in style and substance, with tremendous showings by the entire cast. I’m firmly convinced that is the film that launched Tom Cruise into the box office megastar he once was and, I believe, will be again. The film shows a range of acting that such comedies almost never approach. It’s one of the great ones.

Joel (Cruise) is just a regular teenager with all the regular needs, but he isn’t ordinary in every right. He’s trying to get into Princeton. He’s basically a good kid who always does the right thing. Then one day his naïve parents decide to leave their hardworking, intelligent son home alone while they take a vacation. Big mistake. Joel is a virgin, so on a lark his friends suggest he try a call girl. It ends in disaster as they end up setting him up with a friendly, but still a six-foot tall transvestite. After he is forced to pay the man whore off, he suggests that Joel try someone more his style. Never to be deterred, Joel tries again, but this time he finally scores. Lana (De Mornay) isn’t exactly the kind of call girl that only comes around every $300 dollars or so. Sweet on the outside and pretty good in the sack, she’s also a scam artist who runs around with a punk for a pimp named Guido (Pantoliano). After a brief romantic courtship, she rips Joel off and steals everything in his parent’s house. The TV, furniture and even Mom’s precious crystal egg are gone, now all the property of the incompetent pimp. Joel has a way out though, he must purchase his own belongings back from Guido. But how? Joel is broke after blowing his wad on Lana. Like any industrialist young man, Joel decides to throw a hooker party at his house to earn money by racking up the profits with the girls. All this, and still trying to get into the University of his dreams, it seems impossible. Well like Lana, looks can be deceiving.

Half of any great onscreen romance is chemistry, the other half is contempt. I don’t believe Cruise and De Mornay really had any chemistry, but a hate that’s so bright it’s almost blinding. If you really look into, it’s really not that hard to tell. They are like that old frog leap game at the boardwalk or carnival, where the object is to hit the seesaw as hard as you can to send the frogs flying. And that’s what they did; they hit it as hard as they could. The end result is a burning hate that is so lusty that it fogs up the screen and melts out the other end. Separate they are dead wood, but together they are simply put, sizzling. Also included, but almost not necessary is a fully loaded cast of 80’s juggernauts; with such comedy hero’s as Bronson Pinchot of ‘Perfect Strangers’ (1986 TV). Booger or Curtis Armstrong, most notably from one of my favorites ‘Revenge of the Nerds’, portrays the role of Miles and one Joe Pantoliano of Sopranos fame and several hits including ‘The Matrix’, rounds out the cast as Guido, starring his own real hair.

So I’m playing poker at the fabulous ‘Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa’ in Atlantic City, going on about a 10 hour run. All night the entire table is getting along nicely, trading bad hands for good and friendly conversation. But there is always the one guy who has to go and ruin it. And there he was, a balding heavy bearded fellow with a foul attitude. He mentioned that he used to date De Mornay around the time of the film. It seemed to be the truth as people evidently knew this as fact. Probably some low-end director from the 80’s or maybe even a big shot, I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was beat this guy. I’m sitting on JJ in the hole, the game is “No limit Texas Holdem’. And there it is.. my chance. He bets into - I raise, he calls. The first three cards dealt out are J 7 7, I flopped a boat! To my shock, he pushes and I call with little hesitation. Next card is a blank; the guy goes - all in. Now I built a nice stack, have about $350 left, with $150 already invested in the hand. I think about it for a minute, he’s got a smaller boat. I call. He shows four of a kind, with 7’s. I lose, big time. I thanked the players next to me for an enjoyable evening and looked at my man, who said that I had to call with what I was holding. I said, “Sometimes you gotta say what the fuck.” He and a couple of guys laughed, and that was almost better than taking his money.
Rating: 9/10

The Presentation:
“Yes. No. Maybe.” I couldn’t have described this BD any better myself. ‘Risky Business’ 25th Anniversary Edition debuts on Blu-ray with a VC-1 transfer and the results are far from as shocking or hot as the film. The picture is very soft and bathed in a slight level of grain. For the most part, detail is improved and exteriors are quite nice. Blacks are deep, even if colors only look decent. Skin tones fluctuate at times, but are more than acceptable. Cruise looks a little red, but attribute that more to the excitement of youth. Hey, it’s his first big film and no surprise.. guess what, it’s a winner! Honestly, I’m a little torn on this one in terms of score. I don’t know if it’s beautiful or a beautiful disaster.

Had to go with my gut, but the transfer isn’t as bad as the score might indicate. It does give off a fairly remarkable High Definition feel at some points. I use that term in reviewing Blu-ray disc’s to describe the over-all the character the film gives off, that certain sense you get from only a Blu-ray. And I must say that several scenes have a wonderful approach, with brilliant depth. The film has a clear-cut sharper feel and clarity is improved. It’s definitely a bright disc at times, with an improved and lively picture when compared to the dull range of its DVD counterpart. Scenes shot at night seem to suffer the most, but there are relatively few of them. I can’t really pinpoint any particular scene that shines as I feel this disc has an over-all monotone sequence. But honestly, I purchased it with little regrets as I’ve long been a fan of the film.

The Dolby True HD 5.1 surround hardly ever pops and is in general dull. The soundtrack is pretty clear and offers a break from the monotony of the films dialogue and background action. “Porsche. There is no substitute.” Very true, but the same could not be said for this transfer. The substitute for the latest edition of ‘Risky Business’ on Blu-ray is the latest edition of ‘Risky Business’ on DVD. Warner really didn’t hit a homerun with this title, but I’m not going to say it’s one to avoid. This one may be for fans only, but first time viewers will certainly not be disappointed, as the film is truly memorable. What I’m going to say is buy it. With an improved picture and to contrast my humorous remark, it is an upgrade over the latest DVD. It may not be the best I’ve seen; but it’s clean, dirty and glorious.
Rating: 5/10

The Extras:
Short, but sweet. With only a couple of extras included on this Blu-ray, I actually found the few quite enjoyable. Definitely worth a look for fans.

Introduction to Commentary

Video Commentary: A video commentary with Jon Avnet, Director Paul Brickman and Tom Cruise.

The Dream is Always the Same: A fairly enjoyable yet common featurette, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. With Tom Cruise and several of the cast and crew, explaining the technique and the unique intimacy the film provides. Not bad, check it out. (30 mins, HD)

Original Screen Tests: With Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. Wow, are they young in this film or what? Tom with untypical Hollywood good looks and De Mornay with a beautiful innocence in contrast to her performance, smart move. The naïve and tender hooker is always better than the washed up hags some of us find trolling the backstreets of Atlantic City. Mixed screen tests with commentary and introduction. (15 mins SD)

Directors Cut: Of the final scene. With introduction and deleted final scene as Paul Brickman intended. (7 mins, HD)

Theatrical Trailer: Original trailer of Risky Business. (2 mins HD) And I had a great time last night too.
Rating: 6/10

Overall:
In the 80’s Tom Cruise was bigger than big. I can’t get over just how good Cruise can be. It can’t just be luck or good film selection. With hit after hit, constantly firing on all cylinders, he would embark on a storied career that would display a deep range of talent throughout the genres. ‘Risky Business’ being the teen sex comedy, ‘Top Gun’ being the mega action hit, ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ and ‘Rain Man’ being the dramatic Oscar attempts. Later even horror and romantic comedies would not escape him; with ‘Interview with a Vampire’ and ‘Jerry Maguire’. But it was his mature showing in ‘Risky Business’ that would propel him to stardom, with pure talent and most of all character on full display. The film itself is a must own. The Blu-ray disc is somewhat of a disappointment, but over-all it’s hard to disappoint fans of the film on any format. “Did you have your bike there? Yeah. I think you jumped on your bike, pedaled home and whacked off.” Cheers, to the good old days.
Rating: 6/10