Risky Business - Reception

Reception

Risky Business received critical acclaim by critics and audiences. It is also considered by many as one of the best films of 1983. Janet Maslin, in her 1983 review of the film for The New York Times, called it "part satire, part would-be suburban poetry and part shameless showing off" and said the film "shows an abundance of style", though "you would be hard pressed to find a film whose hero's problems are of less concern to the world at large." She called De Mornay "disarming as a call girl who looks more like a college girl" and credits Cruise with making "Joel's transformation from straight arrow to entrepreneur about as credible as it can be made."

Roger Ebert was much more positive, calling it a film of "new faces and inspired insights and genuine laughs" and "one of the smartest, funniest, most perceptive satires in a long time" that "not only invites comparison with The Graduate, it earns it".

Ebert continued:

The very best thing about the movie is its dialogue. Paul Brickman, who wrote and directed, has an ear so good that he knows what to leave out. This is one of those movies where a few words or a single line says everything that needs to be said, implies everything that needs to be implied, and gets a laugh. When the hooker tells the kid, "Oh, Joel, go to school, go learn something," the precise inflection of those words defines their relationship for the next three scenes.

Variety said the film was like a "promising first novel, with all the pros and cons that come with that territory" and complimented Brickman on "the stylishness and talent of his direction."

In 2006, the film was #40 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies; the magazine called the film a "sharp satire of privileged suburban teens" about the "soul-crushing pressure to be perfect."

In the years since the film's release, the scene featuring Cruise's character dancing in his pink dress shirt and briefs to "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger has been referenced in episodes of many television series, films, and advertisements.

The film was arguably the beginning of the resurgence in popularity of the Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses.

The film holds a 98% "Certified Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.