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
Tom Cruise
Joel Goodson
Rebecca De Mornay
Lana
Joe Pantoliano
Guido
Richard Masur
Rutherford
Bronson Pinchot
Barry
Curtis Armstrong
Miles Dalby
Nicholas Pryor
Joel's Father
Janet Carroll
Joel's Mother
Shera Danese
Vicki
Raphael Sbarge
Glenn
Bruce A. Young
Jackie
Kevin Anderson
Chuck (as Kevin C. Anderson)
Nathan Davis
Business Teacher
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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