

Meet Joel Goodson, an industrious, college-bound 17-year-old and a responsible, trustworthy son. However, when his parents go away and leave him home alone in the wealthy Chicago suburbs with the Porsche at his disposal he quickly decides he has been good for too long and it is time to enjoy himself. After an unfortunate incident with the Porsche Joel must raise some cash, in a risky way.
Acting
Cruise's elastic panic meets De Mornay's ice-cool manipulation
Cinematography
Refrigerator glow and Porsche fetishization—yuppie aesthetic bible
Score
Tangerine Dream's synths make suburban decay sound expensive

Director
Paul Brickman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The underwear dance was improvised. Cruise also couldn't drive stick—every Porsche scene required pushing.
Brickman hated the studio-mandated happy ending; he intended a darker critique of materialism that got Cruise-ified into a star vehicle.
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