The 25th Anniversary Of The Psychological Thriller Risky Business

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the classic '80s sex comedy Risky Business with the release of the Special Edition 25th Anniversary Edition DVD, begging the question, WHAT IS UP WITH RISKY BUSINESS? I just watched it for the first time last week, and whoa. What? I don't know if you have to have seen that movie in the theater or be some kind of asshole, but that is one of the darkest creepouts ever.

I just looked at some Amazon reviewers who gave Risky Business 5 stars (because that's how you judge the quality of something is through Amazon reviews) and mostly what everyone seems to agree upon is that it's a movie about teenagers that doesn't pander to teenagers. Well that is TRUE. But a comedy? This is one of the most sinister movies I've ever seen.

Don't get me wrong, PROSTITUTION IS HILARIOUS, but between the Tangerine Dream soundtrack and the increasingly somber mood that seems to accompany tales of sad people trapped in circumstances far beyond their control, you'd think this was a coming-of-age tale about a young man losing his first arm to the coal mine where men of his family have worked for generations, not losing his virginity in a wild parent-free adolescent romp.

And this famous chemistry between Tom Cruise and Rebecca DeMornay? You mean the chemistry by which a prostitute seduces a young man, bleeds him for cash, moves into his house to open a sex ring, and then it turns out all of that was just a front to rob the boy of everything his family owned as some sort of long-con gift to her pimp? That chemistry? Yes, it was electric!

Did I do something wrong? Did I watch this movie wrong?

P.S. Sorry it took me 25 years to blow the lid off this whole Risky Business thing.

Posted by Gabe at 4:20 PM in Everyone's A Critic
Tags: Rebecca DeMornay | Risky Business | The '80s | Tom Cruise