Episode 114 - Risky Business (1983)

A film that boldly asks “What if we made a good version of Ferris Buehler’s Day Off?” It has all the beats of a John Hughes teen movie—especially that one—while actually saying something about America, capitalism, and class. It’s the film that made Tom Cruise a star, and unfortunately is saddled in pop culture memory with one very silly dance scene that has very little to do with what’s otherwise a very dark, funny, nervy movie about facing adulthood and disillusionment. A smarter film than expected, it eviscerates the model of “teen goes wild when his parents are away and has to set everything back the way it was before they get home” just as that template was being set for teen comedies. Starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Curtis Armstrong, Bronson Pinchot, Joe Pantoliano, and Richard Masur. Written and directed by Paul Brickman.