User Reviews

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** The first hour of this movie is so enjoyable. Frank Whaley, who also ruled in Swimming With Sharks, is hilarious as the loser who constantly makes up stories to try to make people believe he's important and actually has a life. What makes it work is that Whaley is sharp and a quick thinker, so he's successful to a point before it all comes crumbling down. The best example of this is the classic scene where he tries to get a high profile job at Target from John Candy. It's even better than the scene in Trainspotting where the junkie shoots up before he goes for the job interview (of course, as a whole that's a much better film). When it backfires and he has to settle for the prestigious job of overnight janitor, William Forsythe has him wearing the dirty uniform of the loser who previously held that position, Darrell, promising that he'll give him a new name patch if it by some chance works out.

In contrast to Whaley, who has been crapped on all his life, we have Jennifer Connelly as the woman who seemingly has it all. She's the most beautiful woman in this town, or any other for that matter, and she's filthy rich. What people don't know though is that High school was the highlight of her life, and now she's going through life aimlessly under the dictation of her abusive, controlling father. She occasionally has the guts to do something to get back at him. For instance, the great scene where her father tries to introduce her to his business associates so she takes her coat off in a seductive manner, goes over and kisses one on the lips, and then when the other puckers up expecting the highlight of his life, she offers him a handshake instead. The film really goes out of it's way to emphasize how gorgeous she is, but she follows up her strong performance in The Hot Spot by once again proving she's a lot more than just a pretty face. It's not a role that requires great depth or range, but even when she's saying or doing the opposite she has the grace and ability to convey what she wants without appearing to try. Also, although this is more something she's honed as the years have gone on, there's always an added feel to her dialogue because of her physical acting (something that seems to only be mentioned when done by the crooked nose types) and her paused delivery.

The bulk of the movie takes place in Target, with the stores goods being exploited for all the fun and silliness they are worth. Whaley is locked in because no first nighter gets a key, and apparently nobody checked the dressing rooms, where Connelly fell asleep debating whether she should get caught shoplifting to piss her dad off. They exchange a lot of great and extremely well delivered dialogue, with Connelly admitting how miserable her life is and backing Whaley into enough corners that he has to do the same. This part moves way too fast. Connelly went to school with Whaley her whole life, but never gave him the time of day since she was in and he wasn't. Within a few hours, knowing what any guy would most want to do with her, she still offers to grant him any wish to make up for how badly she's treated him over the years. Not only that, she's willing to use her $52,000 that she for some reason carries around in her purse so they can go away and start a new life together. Their chemistry is good and I realize everything had to happen before the store was unlocked the next morning, but the rest of the movie should have been devoted to getting to the point where them falling in love and going away together was `believable.' Unfortunately, the whole mood and tone of the movie changes for the very worst when the Mulroney brothers show up to rob the store.

The Mulroneys aren't as bumbling as the crooks in Home Alone, but there's nothing remotely funny about them and their presence in the movie is totally unnecessary. Whaley & Connelly try to outsmart them, but the outcome is never in doubt since the brothers are portrayed as the epitome of village idiots. Part of me loves the scene where Connelly rides the rocking horse to seduce Dermot, but this is the highlight of the whole portion and it still really added nothing to the movie. This whole section dumps the movie down with silly bumbling idiot and implied PG-13 sex gags. It not only provides far fewer laughs and removes the sweetness and cuteness of the story, but it fails to advance the plot in any way. It's such nonsense that the movie would actually be better if there were 20 minutes of commercials after the first hour and then they came back for the last few minutes.

The movie is not believable, but it doesn't try to be. Its purpose is to give hope to people who, whether they'll admit it or not, aren't in a good situation. It succeeds in doing this, and provides a lot of laughs along the way. It's probably better upon subsequent viewings because the comedy isn't based on jokes that are only funny once and you've already been so outraged by the Mulroney section that you either fast forward, turn the channel, or hang in there just to drool over Jennifer. Add this to the list of films that should have been great, but were undermined by the nonsensical nature of part of the script. 6/10

On the whole, "Career Opportunities" is disposable fluff; a half-assed John Hughes production from a guy whose heart clearly isn't in the work anymore. It's uncharacteristic of the man in that the characters are unrelatable, the hot-girl-falls-for-the-big-talking-loser storyline is contrived, and this thing just crawls ... and then ends abruptly. It's 80 minutes of jokes that just don't land, and it's no surprise that both Hughes and Jennifer Connelly have disowned the flick.

But both leads put forth the effort. Frank Whaley strives with what he's got, and Connelly adds playful sexuality to her dialogue. Everyone in the supporting cast knows they're here for a paycheck, but the stars at least make a go of it.

And John Candy shows up for a very pleasantly surprising cameo in the film's beginning. The problem there is that his scene finishes and we never see him again. Man, that guy is like a beam of sunshine in every movie he's in. He makes it look so easy.

But let's not beat around the bush here. The real reason this movie made any money at the box office (and is still talked about today) is the 20 year-old Jennifer Connelly. This doe-eyed specimen is unbelievably sexy, and we can all be thankful to the Internet gods for the horse-riding .gifs floating around in cyberspace. Just like the frozen-in-time Target filming location, this movie is a celluloid preservation of her pre-anorexic youthful attractiveness. Her beauty is nothing short of sublime in an otherwise forgetful piece of early-'90s "meh".

4/10

Career Opportunities is a film worth a watch for a few key reasons. One reason is because the film is one of the last major projects of the great John Hughes. I wanted to take time out to watch this film recently because I never saw it when it was released back in 1991. I do not think I was ever aware of the film back then. As I watched the film, I asked myself why John Hughes chose to write and produce it. I think John wanted movie goers to explore the question, "How would his teenage characters, from films like "Pretty in Pink," "Sixteen Candles," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and "The Breakfast Club" feel about their lives and their prospects for their future after their high school years are behind them?"

The Jim Dodge character is like many memorable characters created by John Hughes: A handsome, witty, fast-talking, and extroverted charlatan. Unlike The popular and successful Ferris Bueller character, Jim Dodge doesn't fool most of the people in his life. People see through his charlatan antics and regard him as a disingenuous liar. Jim Dodge is also from a modest working class family. The Jim Dodge character is as engaging as the Ferris Bueller character, but he is not as funny or as entertaining to watch because his charlatan behavior is unsuccessful. Jim Dodge was not cool in high school, he doesn't have any friends his age, and he doesn't have a gorgeous girlfriend like the Sloane Peterson character from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." I think Hughes wrote the Jim Dodge character to represent the slacker stereotype of Generation X. The Jim Dodge character is in his early 20s, he lives at home, he has few job prospects, and he lacks tangible goals other than a general wish to be credible and successful.

The Josie McClellan character is strong-willed female lead who is similar to a lot of other John Hughes characters. Josie is an effortlessly beautiful young woman with a bad attitude. She believes her ideal high school experience means that her best days are behind her. She and Jim Dodge share a tremendous uncertainty about their futures, and they are both loners. Despite Josie's beauty and wealth, she feels as alone as Jim Dodge and she is also a slacker without clear goals. Jim and Josie find each other and bond within strange circumstances in "Career Opportunities." I think the film is really about how these two characters connect as fellow struggling Gen-Xers.

I think this movie failed to be a big hit because Hughes offers no clear answers for the Jim and Josie characters other than the idea that falling in love offers hope for both of their futures. The laughs are not frequent enough in the film and the music sequences are too numerous. The title of the film is also misleading. Regardless, this film is definitely worth a watch if you were born between 1966 and 1974.

Spoilers

The phrase "Jennifer Connelly Wow" can be found all over the internet. Hollywood had never seen the likes of Jennifer Connelly before. She is an incredible beauty. I write this 18 years after this movie came out and she still is the hottest woman in Hollywood.

There are favorite scenes of Jennifer - The roller skating scene and the rocking horse scenes are near the top for most guys and they are all over Youtube.

Jennifer can really distract a guy from seeing what takes place in this movie. The first 20 times I saw this, I had the following questions:

1) Does Josey McClelland (Jennifer Connelly) really like Jim Dodge (Frank Whaley)?

2) Since Jim Dodge is considered the town liar and can not seem to hold a job, what does Josey McClelland see in Jim Dodge? What kind of future could she possibly see with Jim Dodge?

3) If Josey likes Jim so much, why does she leave him in the store and drive off, when she steals the crooks' stolen car? Consider, Josey left Jim locked in a store with two angry criminals that subsequently began to look for him with loaded guns.

Answers - Well the answers are demonstrated and shown by where the movie winds up.

1) Yes - Definitely!

2) She sees that he is honest with her, except for not admitting to himself as well as her, that he does not want to live at home, and he is misunderstood by everyone in this little town including his parents, and everyone sees that Jim is doing something but they call it lying. But Josey has a similar talent and therefore, understands what Jim is good at, and where they need to go to take advantage of their talents.

3) She knows that those two stupid crooks have easily fallen for Jim's lies and acting previously - They are in no way a match for the talents of Jim Dodge.

Consider the fantasy (from the leading male or Jim Dodge prospective) that those answers prove out: The sexiest woman comes into your store and is locked in with you for the night. The incredible beauty falls for you, big time, and she sees something about you that no one in this town ever saw. She knows that you are better than any problems that might come along, much better. Because she shares this talent with you The talent she sees in you has been on display for everyone to look at and you even have a nickname pointing to it, and somehow no one ever looked at the positives related to it, except her.

Then you give her a point blank demonstration your talent, showing how you can convince two killers by talking into a radio that you picked off the Target shelf and then talking into some little red book, that they are surrounded by men with guns trained on them. This makes her jump for joy, literally.

She knows the answer that you don't. The answer she forces you to see, move! You are lying to yourself in thinking you like living at home.

Get out of your parents house and get away from this little town and find a place that people appreciate the fact that you are the world's greatest "liar". someone who can easily and naturally make people believe something you are pretending to be.

You are therefore, a super talented ACTOR!

You go through the town in one last view of it with her than without even saying goodbye, you move out of your parents house and together with her you go to (you guessed it, the place where actors go)

Hollywood, California, where the story ends up.

Imagine yourself as a compulsively lying geek. Now, imagine your geek-self in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

This is Jim, the main character of Career Opportunities. He cannot hold a job in an era where jobs flow infinitely from a river of the Reagan heyday. As part of the generation of fresh college graduates without steady income, I envy the luxuries that Jim takes for granted.

Amidst his quarter-life crisis of how Jim should be as an adult, he lands a job as a "night clean-up boy" at Target. While normally this would be seen as unimpressive, Jennifer Connelly as 21 year old Josie saves the day with her charm, striking incisors, and of course, her low-cut tops.

As many of the other reviews on IMDb for this movie have stated: Jennifer Connelly makes this movie. To put it another way: there is no reason to watch this movie if the poignant Jennifer Connelly did not star. But she did, and with her voluminous bosom, she carried the film (to term).

It goes without saying that her natural beauty can be construed as objectified sex appeal for this movie. I, as an open chauvinist male, agree that that was her purpose. As much as we critics mind the boorish measures that Universal Studios takes to promote this film, I honestly believe that Jennifer Connelly is okay with flashing smiles and cleavage the most of all; after all, she is the one laughing her way to the bank.

And with that, the most salient theme is her physical objectification (coupling this with some visceral jazz saxophone solos really don't help). Red tops. Red necklaces. Riding mechanical ponies. These scenes were all attempts to distract my short-term memory from the pedestrian and pointless overall character of this film. For me, it worked.

What is probably the most disconcerting aspect of this film is the protagonist Jim. He is an unwieldy and jejune boy. When encountered with a beautiful women, we as the audience are forced to endure the awkward bouts of puberty. Simply, we want to grab Jim by the throat and say, "MAKE A MOVE! STOP F***ING LYING." Yet, we experience his own demise.

What I mean by the last line is that the film does not provide closure for the relationship between Josie and Jim (and where are we with Jim's father's late night eatings?! Surely, that contributes to the plot, right? Oh wait, that's right, I've given the film too much credit; those scenes have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO with the rest of the film). What happens is that **Connelly** saves the day, and Jim does nothing to deserve her.

If you want to look for a film where obtaining a beautiful (and clearly objectified) woman is justified, then look somewhere else. Jim has done nothing to deserve her. And we as the audience are to watch this inconsistency realize itself before our eyes.

And my eyes have melted. I want them back. This movie was not worth the loss of my vision. I hope you all can agree with that.