Synopsis
Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) is an ambitious, college-bound teen whose parents leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs. In a hilarious downward spiral of adolescent choices, he accidentally sinks his dad’s Porsche in a lake, accidentally hires a call girl, and frantically turns his quiet house into a brothel to pay for the damages.
Actors & Crew
- Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodson, the enterprising teen at the center of the chaos.
- Rebecca De Mornay plays Lana, the call girl who upends Joel’s life — her dramatic range has since spanned Runaway Train (1985), the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining (1997), and Marvel’s Jessica Jones (2015–2019).
- Joe Pantoliano plays Guido, Lana’s pimp — a prolific character actor with over 150 film, TV, and stage roles, an Emmy winner for HBO’s The Sopranos, and known for The Goonies (1985), the Bad Boys franchise, The Matrix (1999), and Memento (2000).
- Minor roles: Mr. Goodsen played by Nicholas Pryor, Mrs. Goodsen played by Janet Carroll, Bill Rutherford played by Richard Masur, Miles Dalby played by Curtis Armstrong (Booger in Revenge of the Nerds), Barry played by Bronson Pinchot, and Megan Mullaly also plays a call girl.
Budget & Shooting Locations
- Distributed by Warner Bros.; released August 5, 1983; running time 99 minutes.
- Budget: $6.2 million.
- Box office: $63.5 million.
- Filmed primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area, heavily utilizing locations on Chicago’s North Shore, including Highland Park (the Goodson family home and Porsche dealership), Skokie (Niles East High School), and downtown Chicago (the Drake Hotel and Belmont Harbor).
Rewatch verdict and Cringe Meter
Risky Business holds up as a sharp, stylish teen classic and one of Tom Cruise’s early star-making turns. It holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews, with an average of 7.3/10, with the site’s consensus stating: “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.” Roger Ebert called it a movie of “new faces and inspired insights and genuine laughs” and “one of the smartest, funniest, most perceptive satires in a long time.”
