Film

Risky Business

Name: Risky Business
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Released: 1983
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur, Bronson Pinchot

Coming-of-age

Tom Cruise as an upright suburban teen left unsupervised with his parents' Porsche discovers that being good is vastly overrated. Risky Business is a propulsive, funny film about the distance between who you're supposed to be and who you want to become, wrapped in 1980s excess and genuine charm. It's for anyone who remembers—or suspects—that adolescence involves more rebellion than report cards.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a sly, stylish coming-of-age comedy where a well-behaved kid's rebellion is played with a straight face and a sharp eye for suburban excess and synth-soaked 1980s cool.

Skip it if you want big set-piece action or a brisk plot; this one lingers on mood and dawdles through its middle stretch, and its moral comedy can feel thin.

What it asks of you: Roughly ninety-eight minutes, unhurried in its early reels and built around music-driven montages, so it rewards patience more than close attention.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Fast Times at Ridgemont High1982

The essential '80s teen comedy: sharper, messier, and more humane than its reputation. Explores desire, friendship, and consequence with real warmth underneath the sex jokes.

But Feels dated in its gender dynamics. Some of the comedy lands flat now, and the pacing drags in stretches.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off1986

Another suburban Chicago kid playing hooky with style and wit. Lighter than Risky Business but shares that giddy sense of one perfect day outside the rules.

But Unabashedly sentimental and pleased with itself. If you find Ferris insufferable, this won't change your mind.

The Breakfast Club1985

John Hughes at his best: five high schoolers trapped in detention who become unexpectedly real to each other. Sincere about adolescent pain without condescension.

But The speeches can feel overwrought. Heavy on '80s sentiment, which either works for you or it doesn't.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Risky Business

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Graduate1967

Both are about a young man's impulsive decision to live recklessly instead of following the script written for him, and both suggest that the real risk isn't what your parents will say—it's not knowing who you are.

The prototype: a young man between worlds, seduced by an older woman, propelled by anxiety and desire rather than a clear plan. Simon & Garfunkel, a Porsche, plastic, and genuine desperation.

But Deliberately paced and ambiguous about what happiness looks like. The famous ending is anticlimactic if you expect resolution.

Sixteen Candles1984

Hughes again, and it nails the specific humiliation of being forgotten on your birthday while your older sister gets all the attention. Funny and genuinely touching.

But Some of the humor is offensive by any standard. The Asian stereotype character is particularly cringe-inducing.

The Last Picture Show1971

A small-town high school world shutting down: melancholy, sexy, and beautifully shot in black and white. About the end of innocence with real regret in it.

But Slow and deliberate. If you want momentum, this will feel like watching paint dry, and the sex feels exploitative in places.

American Graffiti1973

Lucas's love letter to one last summer before adulthood: a series of small moments that accumulate into real feeling. Wonderful ensemble, perfect soundtrack.

But The pacing is episodic and meandering. No real plot to grab onto, just a mood.

Say Anything...1989

Lloyd Dobler with a boombox and genuine earnestness: a teen romance that takes its characters' emotions seriously without winking at the audience.

But Aggressively sincere and romantic. If you're allergic to sentiment, you'll hate it.

Can't Buy Me Love1987

High school popularity as a transaction: a nerdy kid pays a popular girl to be his girlfriend and learns what he actually wants. Sharper socially than it appears.

But Relies on broad teen-movie beats and the romantic payoff feels inevitable. Pretty forgettable once it's over.

School Ties1992

Boarding school, football, class tension, and a Jewish protagonist navigating WASP culture. More serious and socially aware than most teen movies of the era.

But Stiff and earnest to the point of dullness. The period setting doesn't feel lived-in, and it telegraphs every emotional beat.

Diner1982

Both capture that specific male anxiety about becoming an adult—what you'll have to give up, who you'll have to be. But where Risky Business is about a single night of transgression, Diner is about the slower realization that the party has to end.

Ensemble piece about young men in Baltimore in 1959, hanging on to adolescence in a diner while the world moves on. Funny, digressive, full of overlapping conversations that feel real.

But No plot. Purely a mood piece about male friendship and small moments. If you need narrative momentum, this is the opposite.

My Own Private Idaho1991

Both use sex work and deception as a shortcut to adulthood—a test of whether the rules actually matter. But where Risky Business is exhilarating, Idaho is tragic. It asks what happens when the thrill wears off and you're still broke, still lost, still needing to survive.

Gus Van Sant's fever dream about male hustlers in Seattle: visually extraordinary, structurally unusual, achingly tender about desire and homelessness. River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves adrift together.

But Deliberately obscure, sometimes incoherent. Long stretches of silence and strangeness. It's an art film first and a story second.