Issue Date: September 14, 2008
The 25th anniversary deluxe edition of "Risky Business," with Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay, is out on DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 16.
A former Princeton University dean of admission gives his stamp of approval
The Plot
The 1983 comedy centers around Joel Goodsen (Cruise), a high school senior whose wealthy parents prod him to attend Princeton. When his folks go on vacation, Joel cuts loose and becomes smitten with a beautiful call girl (Rebecca De Mornay), who turns his home into a brothel -- on the night a Princeton admissions interviewer shows up to judge his worthiness.
Our Insider
As Princeton's real-life dean of admission for 15 years, Fred Hargadon pored over 200,000-plus applications, accepting less than 10% to the prestigious Ivy League institution. In addition to his time at Princeton, Hargadon worked in a similar gatekeeper capacity for Swarthmore and Stanford.
OVERVIEW
"The movie has fun with the subjects of teenage sexual fantasies and their sometimes nightmarish endings, the anguish surrounding college admissions, uptight parents and, of course, the never-ending suspicion that it's not what you know but who you know that accounts for who gains admission to colleges like the Ivies."
HEAD OF THE CLASS
"If anything, the competitive nature of college admissions has become even more intense than what's depicted in the film. I'd like to think watching this movie would enable students to sit back and see the humor in some of the extremes that they may be tempted to go to."
FACT AND FICTION
"The admissions rep seemed both improbable and ambiguous to me. Did Cruise's character gain admission because of his 'entrepreneurial' record? Possibly, but I wouldn't recommend applicants run a one-night brothel to impress an admissions office. That said, I doubt there's an admission officer anywhere who hasn't remarked about an unusual applicant, 'We could sure use a young talent like this one.' "
LIGHTEN UP
"I didn't take offense at the movie's depiction of an Ivy League admissions rep. I laughed at it. It was, after all, a movie that was pure fantasy on any number of levels. And if the picture the movie left of Princeton admissions was unattractive, the image of De Mornay walking around wearing only a Princeton sweatshirt more than made up for any insult."
-- Jeffrey Ressner
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