I may be looking too deeply into a movie but....

I saw Risky Business when I was 13 and thought that although some parts were funny, it was filmed beautifully and the music was dreamlike to me. The film became more of a personal introspective when high school hit and I began to see the parallels between my life and this Joel character. I used to live in an upper middle-class suburban neighborhood while growing up; big yards, lots of trees, and yardwork that always needed to be done. While the folks were out of town on vacation and my brother was away on weekend with friends; was left at home to rake leaves, mow the grass, and do homework (or play tennis) on Friday and Saturday nights instead of dating, partying, and getting into trouble. Maybe you can identify.. My G-d though! Where was Rebecca De Mornay when I needed her back then??

I strongly believe that to call this movie just a mere comedy is a total disservice to the film's artistic elements. The way the camera focuses on the leaves blowing around in the yard as we see Joel looking around at all this d-mn work that needs to be done. The slow motion on the hose as he waters the plants, the love-making scene on the train, the train at night, and the instrumental music by TD. In my opinion, the term "Comedy" refers to films like Animal House or Caddyshack. Risky Business would be better compared to Solaris than it would either of those two.

The soundtrack will never be outdated as the "Love On A Real Train" main theme is still the best instrumental track I've ever heard (If you're a dreamer, then try listening to the soundtrack while you're doing your own yardwork and you might begin to look forward to those precious times of isolation and reflection).

If you like Risky Business, then check out Three O'Clock High as well. Different struggle, similar character, set to the serious background music of Tangerine Dream. Also dubbed as a comedy, but in my opinion, there are many undertones of drama interlaced.

I have read reviews about giving plot info and so on, but one thing that everyone seems to miss is the irony at the end.
Joel has evey teenage boy's fantasy come true while his parents are away, and nothing could have been better. But because he doesn't have the money he owes Lana, she steals his mother's "artsy fartsy" glass egg. From there a string of histerical and depressing events follow, until his parents return from out of town. Joel's mother discovers a crack in the egg, and Joel is blamed and punished as he was responsible for the house while they were away.
The greatest thing about the movie is how it makes you say to yourself, "jesus, all he had to do was listen to Miles, tell his mom the egg broke, and none of this s*** would have happened" I think that most people miss this point, although it's plainly obvious throughout and near the end of the film. That's what makes this movies great, along with famous scenes of Cruise dancing in his underwear, sexual acts preformed on a train, and car chasing by Guido the killer pimp.
Truly awesome feature that everyone should watch. By the way, when they have sex on the chair and the american flag is waving on the TV, unbelievable.

I sometimes think that I'm the only person in the world that hates this film, but I detest it thoroughly. I had no idea what I was in for when I saw it during its theatrical run. One of my main objections is that the film minimizes, if not glamorizes, the impacts of prostitution. Prostitution is a very ugly, exploitative scene in real life, not the lighthearted fun that the film portrays. Not the best moral message, to be sure.

Aside from that, the other problem I have is with the characters. EVERYONE is a jerk in this movie. Nobody is appealing or likeable. Not even Cruise's Joel, who I found to be as much of a self-centered @#$%&*/ as everyone else. Unfortunately, he followed up by playing the same kind of obnoxious characters ("Top Gun", "Days of Thunder"). It took "Jerry Maguire" and "Rain Man" for me to gain any respect for him.

Anyway, the combination of a creepy, amoral theme and obnoxious characters in what is supposed to be a comedy is a total turn-off. Keep the kids away!

A classic! "I've got a trig midterm tomorrow and I'm being chased by Guido the Killer Pimp!"

There's little doubt that Risky Business helped to define the teen comedy of the 80's. Sure, there were other hallmarks like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and The Breakfast Club. But Risky is a bit different than those other examples in that, rather than go for the full on laughs of Ridgemont, or the teen angst angle of say John Hughes' work, the film takes an average student with no real hang-ups and puts him in an ambitious situation that you don't quite expect. And oh yeah, it helped to launch the career of a future mega star.

Joel Goodson (Tom Cruise) is a high school senior, pretty nerveous about starting college next Fall, especially with his average test scores. He decides to spice up his last high school summer by taking advantage of his parents (Nicholas Pryor and Janet Carroll) being away and throwing a non-stop party. The next thing he knows, his house becomes the local brothel, after pals Miles (Curtis Armstrong) and Barry (Bronson Pinchot) convince him to meet Lana (Rebecca DeMornay), a kind hooker who is trying to break away from her "boss" Guido (Joe Pantoiano).

Writer/director Paul Brickman might have had a dud on his hands if the casting hadn't worked out as well as it did. Cruise owns the role from the very start and is supported by great actors around him. DeMornay is totally believeable as Lana Great comic turns from Pantoliano and Richard Masur as Rutherford, a college recruiter, in one of the film's funniest scenes, makes the most of a small part. I could mention the scene using mass transit, Joel dancing around in his underwear, or a beloved car falling into a body of water..these scenes are very well known, even if you've never seen the movie...

The DVD loses points for its poor collection of extras. Given the film's popularity and "iconic" status, I expected more. The theatrical trailer, production notes, and filmographies are all you get. The film deserves to have a special edition by now. A recommended 80's classic just the same.