Risky Business - Review

If you know me at all, then you know that Tom Cruise is one of, if not, my favorite actor. He is charismatic, charming, can be a badass, can be funny if the role prompts him to and always seems to be in entertaining movies. This year, I have been on a real Tom Cruise kick and after seeing him in movies like Mission: Impossible, Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Rain Man, Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire, etc. it was a little strange to see Tom Cruise as a kid who is still living at home with strict parents whose biggest worry is getting into a good university and having a good future. However, within I'd say 2 minutes, I didn't see Tom Cruise anymore, I saw Joel Goodson. That's when I turned to my buddy I was watching the movie with and said, "That is why I love Tom Cruise. He always sucks me into the movie I am watching."

So yes, a big part of what makes this movie work is Tom Cruise. Now the story is a fun one, however, for some reason, I have this feeling that this story would not get the green light in 2018. The story is that Joel is worried about his future and getting into a good college. So, when his parents leave him in charge of the house for a week, he does what every other kid would do, he would mess around with the home speaker system and blast his favorite tunes and dance around the living room in his underwear. What? You guys don't do that? Man, you guys are strange. While that is all fun and games, the real fun is when Joel's friend decides to order him a hooker to his place. Yes, you heard me right. From there, we get into hijinx with her, her pimp, her other hooker friends and they decide to turn his house into a brothel for an evening.

Now I can watch this and laugh and be entertained because of the likable characters, funny dialogue and overall ridiculous premise, but if a young man getting money from selling his friends nights with prostitutes in the comfort of his own home triggers you, then maybe this movie isn't for you.

But that is the exact reason why I like this movie so much. I can't think of any movie with a premise like that and it is damn entertaining. You can also see in this movie the birth of Tom Cruise as a movie star. Once he puts on those shades, as far as I am concerned, that is when the world was gifted with Tom Cruise, the movie star.

While that is all fun stuff, what I really loved about this movie is the message. Every film has a message. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Even if a movie is extremely dumb and seems like it has no real story or message for that matter, perhaps the message is that you need to laugh at dumb stuff sometimes and not take things so seriously. But I digress, what is the message of this movie? Well, allow me to let Joel's good friend Miles explain.

"Every now and then say, "What the f***". "What the f***" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future."

Now really think about that. When hearing this line again, it really hit me. Looking back over the past couple of years, I see opportunities I missed out on just because in order to even come across those opportunities, I would have needed to step out of my comfort zone and take a risk rather than play it safe (ie. Risky Business). However, I look at all of the best moments of my life in the past couple years and they were mostly instances of me saying, "Sure, why the hell not?" or "What the f***".

So guys, step out of your comfort zone once in a while. You never know what could happen. Also, watch Risky Business! I liked it quite a bit!