Taglines: There’s a time for playing it safe and a time for Risky Business.
Risky Business movie storyline. Left alone in the wealthy northern Chicago suburbs with the family house and Porsche at his disposal, Joel, through his scheming friends, finds himself entertaining to-die-for lady-of-the-night Lana. After meeting Joel’s enthusiastic friends, Lana spots a business opportunity, and suggests bringing in some of her equally stunning colleagues. Joel is aghast at such an idea, at least until the Porsche accidentally falls into Lake Michigan, requiring a quick infusion of ready cash.
Risky Business is a 1983 American teen coming-of-age comedy film[2] written and directed by Paul Brickman (in his directorial debut) and starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The film covers themes including materialism, loss of innocence, coming of age, and capitalism. Best known as Cruise’s breakout film, Risky Business was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $63 million against a $6.2 million budget.
The film was scored by Tangerine Dream. Their music comprises nearly half of the soundtrack album. Also included are songs by Muddy Waters, Prince (“DMSR”), Jeff Beck, Journey, Phil Collins (“In the Air Tonight”), and the song for which the film is best known, “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger. The soundtrack album was released on Virgin Records, Tangerine Dream’s record company at the time of the film’s release.
The film also includes “Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, and “Swamp” by Talking Heads. The LP and CD versions of the soundtrack include two different versions of “Love on a Real Train (Risky Business),” both of which are different recordings from the version used in the film for the final love scene or closing credits. The film opened in 670 theaters, with an opening weekend gross of $4,275,327. It went on to gross a total of $63.5 million domestically.
About the Story
Joel Goodson is a high-achieving high school student who lives with his wealthy parents in the Chicago North Shore area of Glencoe. His father wants him to attend Princeton University, his alma mater, so Joel participates in Future Enterprisers, an extracurricular activity in which students work in teams to create small businesses. When his parents go away on a trip, Joel’s friend, Miles, convinces him to take advantage of his newfound freedom to have some fun.
On the first night, he raids the liquor cabinet, plays the stereo loudly, and dances around the living room in his briefs and button-down shirt to “Old Time Rock and Roll”. The following day, Miles calls a prostitute named Jackie on Joel’s behalf. When Jackie turns out to be a trans woman, Joel pays her just to leave, but before she does, she gives Joel the number for another prostitute named Lana. That night, Joel is unable to sleep and hesitantly calls Lana, who turns out to be a gorgeous blonde woman, and they stay sexually engaged all night.
Lana asks Joel for $300 for her services. He goes to the bank, but when he returns, Lana is gone, along with his mother’s expensive Steuben glass egg. Joel finds Lana and demands the egg back, but they are interrupted by Lana’s pimp Guido, who pulls a gun. While in his father’s Porsche 928, Joel is chased by Guido, but eventually escapes. Lana tells Joel that the egg is with the rest of her stuff at Guido’s. Joel lets Lana stay at his house while he goes to school.
When he returns, his friends have come over, and Lana has invited another prostitute, Vicki, to stay, but Joel rejects the idea. That night, Joel, Lana, Vicki, and Joel’s friend Barry go out and get high on marijuana. After Lana accidentally undoes the parking brake in the Porsche while retrieving her purse, the car rolls down the hill and onto a pier (despite Joel’s desperate attempt to stop it); the pier collapses, and the Porsche sinks into Lake Michigan.
When Joel takes the car to a repair shop, he is horrified to learn how much it will cost to fix it. He and Lana later decide to turn his parents’ house into a brothel for a night; Joel’s share of the profits will pay for the repairs. The party is a huge success; the house is packed with Joel’s friends and classmates and Lana’s co-workers. However, the recruiter from Princeton, Rutherford, chooses that night to interview Joel for admission to Princeton. The interview is plagued by interruptions, and Rutherford is unimpressed by Joel’s resumé.
Risky Business (1983)
Directed by: Paul Brickman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur, Bronson Pinchot, Curtis Armstrong, Nicholas Pryor, Janet Carroll, Shera Danese, Raphael Sbarge, Bruce A. Young, Kevin Anderson, Sarah Partridge
Screenplay by: Paul Brickman
Production Design by: William J. Cassidy
Cinematography by: Bruce Surtees, Reynaldo Villalobos
Film Editing by: Richard Chew
Costume Design by: Robert De Mora
Set Decoration by: Ralph Hall
Makeup Department: Ilona Bobak, Lillian Toth
Music by: Tangerine Dream
MPAA Rating: R for adult situations / language, nudity.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: August 5, 1983 (United States)
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