Risky Business (1983)

Being the perfect son can get exhausting, and one reckless week can change everything. Paul Brickman's "Risky Business," which he wrote and directed, stars Tom Cruise in his star-making role as Joel Goodsen, a hardworking, college-bound high school senior from Chicago's wealthy North Shore suburbs, the dependable son his parents trust completely. Pushed by his wisecracking best friend, Miles (Curtis Armstrong), who insists that sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind, Joel decides he's been good for too long when his parents leave him home alone for a week. His rebellion starts with dancing around the living room in his socks to "Old Time Rock and Roll," but it quickly spirals out of control after he meets Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), a streetwise, worldly young woman who draws him into trouble with her menacing boss (Joe Pantoliano). When a mishap sends his father's prized Porsche rolling off a pier and into Lake Michigan, Joel needs a lot of money fast to cover the repairs before his parents come home. Meanwhile, a vengeful Guido strips the house of its furniture, and Joel must also keep his parents' precious crystal egg intact and win over the Princeton recruiter (Richard Masur) who arrives at the worst possible moment. The film slyly explores the anxieties of a good kid wrestling with guilt and ambition in a success-obsessed world, and Cruise's winning charm foreshadows his later turn in "Jerry Maguire." Tangerine Dream's dreamy score sets the mood.