Paul Brickman
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Filmography
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Connections, in both directions
The Girl Next Door (2004)
Directed by Luke Greenfield
influenced by Risky Business (1983)
Plot Themes
It also enhanced the bad girl/good boy template in ways whose ripples have been felt in Hollywood for decades, with The Girl Next Door often being referred to as "Risky Business for the next generation."
Seen from an angle, this pop art reveals more thematic riskiness than its cinematic offspring, most obviously the films of John Hughes (whose Ferris Bueller caricatures Risky Business while shamelessly ripping off its jaw-dropping automotive sacrifice) and Luke Greenfield's The Girl Next Door.
But unfortunately there's no one to prosecute in the case of "The Girl Next Door," which seems mainly about ripping off 1983's "Risky Business" without attribution, right down to its awkward teenage hero's tighty whities.
As directed by Luke Greenfield from a script by Stuart Blumberg, David Wagner and Brent Goldberg, "The Girl Next Door" is a coming-of-age movie that borrows liberally from one of the most influential films of the genre - "Risky Business."
A character-driven, cleverly risqué teen sex farce that has much more in common with "Risky Business" (the genre's high-water mark) than it does with the lowbrow body-fluid antics of the post- "American Pie" era, "The Girl Next Door" stars eye-popping Elisha Cuthbert (from TV's "24") as every nerdy teenager's dream come true: an alluringly sexy, accessibly sweet porn star who's just looking for a nice, normal boyfriend.
In a series of misadventures reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s turn as a pimp in Risky Business, the trio turn to their chemistry and computer skills to move the Molly on the dark web, under the guidance of their Miyagi/Yoda, a stoner-hacker played by Blake Anderson.
It’s a frenetic piece brimming with references to other films, from a narrative similarity to “Risky Business” and “Go” to in-jokes of giving Kravitz the same hairstyle as Janet Jackson in “Poetic Justice.”
It’s also not a particularly novel coming-of-age movie, offering token inclusions of masturbation, prom, etc. It’s largely a drug-related caper somewhat reminiscent of adventures like “Risky Business” and “The Girl Next Door” in which shy kids get in over their heads.
The tone is fast and funny, with a modern “Risky Business” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” vibe, but there’s an additional layer that stems from the violence of the neighborhood.
In a plot point reminiscent of Risky Business, all hell breaks out the week Malcolm is preparing for his interview to get into Harvard.
The film includes numerous references to early 1990s gangsta movies like Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society , but in spirit it’s closer to Risky Business and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , 1980s comedies about white teenage boys who go through a crazy adventure in a compressed time frame.
Ever since 1983's "Risky Business," (or even arguably 1978's college set "Animal House") the high school party run amok and variations on that theme have been a staple, rejuvenated for the current generation by Judd Apatow with 2007's "Superbad."
A funny combination of “Risky Business” and “Superbad,” “Project X” is a fond look at high school parties and the people that attend them.
The setup for Project X is remarkably like that of Risky Business, except the stakes in that film seemed smaller but more convincing.
The film's guiding spirit, however, is Todd Phillips, who maintains his singular genius for updating the clichés of the Animal House/Risky Business era so that they look just dangerous enough to make nostalgia feel naughty.
Their script plays like what you’d get if you put Animal House, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, House Party, Risky Business and Superbad in a blender.
We've seen this premise everywhere from "Risky Business" to "Superbad," but what makes "Project X" stand out is that it goes big by super-sizing the chaos with plenty of low-brow laughs along the way.
Back in the days of “Porky’s,” “Losin’ It,” and “Zapped!,” we used to call these things “stu-coms,” short for “stupid,” and the good ones (“Better Off Dead,” “Risky Business”) were few and far between.
Booksmart borrows elements of many coming-of-age classics, from American Graffiti (1973) to Risky Business (1983) to Superbad (2007).
Certain elements are reminiscent of high school movies ranging from “Risky Business” to “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” to “The Breakfast Club” to “Say Anything” to “Superbad” to “Easy A,” and “Booksmart” often presents familiar characters and situations: the gigantic blow-out party, the last chance to reveal one’s true feelings to a longtime crush, well-meaning but clueless parents, the misunderstood “weirdo” kid, the big fight between best friends, etc.
The journey they go on just to get to Nick’s bash is like something out of Paul Brickman’s Risky Business ,John Landis’ Into the Night or Martin Scorsese’s After Hours , only with a feminine twist that’s pleasantly delightful.
Although Good Boys largely plays like a tween version of Superbad —with an explicit nod to Stranger Things and even a touch of Stand By Me —it’s clear that writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (who also directs) are fans of the great old Tom Cruise vehicle, Risky Business , too.
The drone is the middle school equivalent of the Porsche in “Risky Business,” the red “Ferrari” in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
The film has strains of Stand By Me, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , and Risky Business running through its DNA.
The Pitch: Steeped in the grand tradition of youth-getting-into-trouble comedies like Risky Business , Porky’s , and of course Superbad (more on that shortly), Good Boys lowers the age of its characters from young to very young — 12 years old, to be exact.
There are other significant but subtly deployed props in Call Me by Your Name, starting with the Ray-Ban sunglasses perched precariously on Elio’s always-tilted head—a clever way of reminding that the film is set in 1983, the year of Risky Business.
Tom Cruise's underwear dance in "Risky Business" has wrought countless tired homages.
As the none-too-bright but essentially good-hearted Wesley, Robbie Amell channels the rakish twinkle of “Risky Business”-era Tom Cruise.
Stranger Things (2016)
Directed by David Champion
influenced by Risky Business (1983)
Characters Music
…a popular rich kid who thinks he looks like Tom Cruise in Risky Business…
I even got a “Breakfast Club” whiff from a montage of a weird girl who gets a makeover, in a scene with a Tangerine Dream-like soundtrack out of “Risky Business.”
The posters that adorn her bedroom walls show him in his snaggly-toothed glory, the star of Risky Business.
The aforementioned Pink Floyd song is "Hey You" and its use in the film is fantastic along with the use of Tangerine Dream's music from Risky Business...genius.
Although not without moments of wise-ass comedy (the youngest son's confused, increasingly pervy antics are underscored, hilariously, by snippets of Tangerine Dream's ultra-smooth Risky Business theme) there's an underlying witty melancholy that suggests a filmmaker fully locked into his groove.
…when one places the music side by side with Tangerine Dream’s contribution to Risky Business, they sound incredibly similar.
In that pursuit, it's astonishingly satisfying that Vaughn namedrops every single reference, with a Hellboy poster decorating our heroes' favourite hangout, a proper paid to Tim Burton's Batman, and Tangerine Dream's haunted score from Risky Business used during an outré sex scene--a bravura show of knowing precisely what jerks the prurience in the pleasure principle for people hitting the sweet spot of thirtysomething.
None of which makes those movies inherently bad, mind you; The Girl Next Door was terrific, and it was almost a carbon copy of Risky Business.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
influenced by Risky Business (1983)
Characters Themes
He gives a teen turn on par with Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” or Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but — and I recognize the weight of this comment — goes much deeper than they did as young men.
And what you’re left with is, well, a less risky Risky Business.
When we first meet Baby, though, he’s outside a bank, sitting in a playfully conspicuous red car, wearing Risky Business shades and cuing up the perfect song to soundtrack the tyre-screeching manoeuvres he’ll soon have to deploy to escape the cops.
It’s a cute moment, but after a bit it becomes clear it lacks the energetic virility of Tom Cruise in his skivvies in “Risky Business.”
In one of his first solo lead roles, Nat Wolff (2013's " Admission ") is tremendously appealing as Quentin, a cross between Tom Cruise in 1983's "Risky Business," John Cusack in 1989's "Say Anything," and Emile Hirsch in 2004's " The Girl Next Door ."
But “Risky Business” it’s not, and Delevingne is no Rebecca De Mornay.
Dickinson's performance is compelling as well, coming off as opaquely juvenile, like what Tom Cruise's character in Risky Business might like after graduating from Princeton.
Imagine if a young Tom Cruise had been cast in the title role in “The Terminator” instead of in “Risky Business” and you’ll have some idea of Stevens in the role.
Meanwhile, the resemblance between Sean Faris and Tom Cruise circa Risky Business is uncanny.
In a rare, subtle touch, the soundtrack even channels the Tangerine Dream score for "Risky Business" — another crime-as-capitalism picture that trafficked in aspirational larceny.