Now that everyone seems to have snapped out of it and finally remembered that Tom Cruise is a movie star (as evidenced by the kick-ass box office success of the kick-ass Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), there’s no better time to revisit one of the films that paved the way to Cruise’s superstar status. One of the original truly great raunchy R-rated comedies (and one with a heart of gold, of course), Risky Business follow the sometimes harrowing yet frequently hilarious sexual awakening of Joel Goodsen (just one vowel short of being a “good son”), a Boy Who Becomes a Man as he embarks on a wild big-city adventure with a lovely prostitute who’s in a spot of trouble (Rebecca De Mornay). Rebecca is so hot it hurts (and her train tryst with Cruise is still one of cinema’s best-ever sex scenes), and the supporting cast is a total blast (including Bronson Pinchot, Joe ‘Joey Pants’ Pantoliano and Curtis Armstrong, who would go on to become Booger in Revenge of the Nerds the following summer), but this is undeniably TOM CRUISE’s movie all the way as he exhibits the kind of effortless charisma that would soon become his trademark (and flashes that five-star smile); the scene where he lip-synchs to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” in his underwear remains one of the most rousing (and ridiculous) expressions of naive youthful abandon ever put to film.
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New On Netflix: Risky Business