5: Risky Business

This week, Tom Cruise becomes a star in Paul Brickman’s tale of capitalist ennui and sock-slides, Risky Business. Is it all a dream? What happened to the original cut of the ending? Has Alastair already peaked at the trailer game?

Content Warnings: misogyny, sexually explicit language, sex work

Unanswered Questions:

• Was it all a dream? But… was it?
• How does the film work as a teen empowerment fantasy?
• How much of Cruise’s on-screen persona is already evident? Which elements are still missing?

Further reading:

• Our bonus discussion of the director’s cut of the ending
• At 20, Risky Is Still Frisky (Variety)
• Moonlighting (Hulu)
• The House Of Gentle Men: A Novel
• Page 3 (Wikipedia)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we study the last Tom Cruise movie of 1983, Michael Chapman’s All The Right Moves!

“Boogie Party” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

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