Paul Brickman‘s Risky Business opened 30 years and 5 days ago. It captured and in some ways defined the early ’80s zeitgeist (Reagan-era morality, go for the greenbacks, the receding of progressive ’70s culture). And it brought about an ungodly torrent of tits-and-zits comedies, so numerous that they became a genre that forever tarnished the meaning of “mainstream Hollywood comedy.” But Risky Business was a perfect film. The Tom Cruise-Rebecca DeMornay sex scenes were legendary, the vibe of upper-middle-class entitlement was delivered with absolute clarity and authority, Joe Pantoliano‘s Guido is arguably a more memorable character than his Ralph Cifaretto in The Sopranos, and the opening dream sequence is just as funny and on-target in its depiction of encroaching doom as Woody Allen‘s Bergmanesque train-car sequence at the beginning of Stardust Memories.
You know what’s depressing? It was only 30 years ago but almost all the RB costars, young sprouts during principal photography, look weathered and speckled and even a little bit saggy today. Actors are supposed to keep it together and stay ahead of the aging process better than Average Joes and Janes. Only Cruise looks really good today.
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