Une place à prendre

"Career Opportunities" is not only one of the finest films of the Last Great Golden Age Of American Cinema--the early 1990s, specifically, 1991 ("Another You", "For The Boys", "Highlander 2: The Quickening"--do I have to list more?), it might just one day revered as the "O Lucky Man" of the post-Reagan "grunge" era. A surrealist, even MAGICAL REALIST parable/satire on American Consumerism and our collective enslavement to petty bourgeois dreams of success, with a touch of "La Dolce Vita" tossed in for added subtext, with the lovely OSCAR-NOMINATED Connelly as Anita Ekberg, representing the impossible female ideal that will remain forever out of reach until our hero, Whalley's milquetoast Candide, renounces the evils of capitalism. Connelly's ride atop a coin-operated pony is Hughes' nod to Sylvia's romp through the fountain in Rome, and his oft-misunderstood casting of the Mulroneys are a post-modern riff on Fellini's Virgin Mary thread, although instead, the brothers embody a different Biblical allusion--to that of the parable of Cain and Abel. Sigh--I'll be defending this one until the end of my autumn years.

But oh, that white tank top...

Yea, I know this movie was not that good and the formula was well-worn but it was fun to watch for 2 reasons. Jennifer Connelly and the clothes and music. Jennifer was a heart-stopper as usual! I really couldn't see her attraction to Frank Whaley's character because he just seemed to dweebish!(80's term) I could see her more with the dark-haired thieve. But it did give the fantasy of the nerd getting the pretty girl some hope! All in all, it was a movie that was caught between eras! The years 1990-91 were sort of lost years where no one seemed to know what was next. Music was changing from the rock of the big hair style of Poison and GNR to the alternative sound of REM and none of the music in the movie sounded like neither. It was an experimental sound. The clothes seemed like the 80's but were trying to be something different. Of course we know what was on the horizon..Grunge! But this movie was the end of an era. It was released in 1991 but was probably made a year before that. It's one of those movies you will watch if you were a 20 something in the 80's and feel a nostalgic pang. I get it watching movies like Back to the Future and Breakfast Club, St; Elmos Fire..etc. So don't judge this flick to harshly. It's just filler but it does taste good! Especially Jennifer Connelly!

I sat down to watch "Career Opportunities" for the second time now in 2021, after not having seen the movie since shortly after it was released.

Needless to say that actress Jennifer Connelly (playing Josie McClellan) is the main attraction in this movie, no doubt about it. And she really is a talented actress, which "Career Opportunities" definitely also proves.

This is a young adult comedy of sorts, but it does have elements of other genres to it as well. Throw in a little pinch of crime as well, and you have a great cocktail of a movie.

The storyline told in "Career Opportunities" is a pretty straight forward one, and it is one that definitely is entertaining enough. However, I do think that the storyline told in "Career Opportunities" is actually not one that will find an appeal with just anyone in the audience, given the main character of Jim Dodge (played by Frank Whaley).

Despite being released back in 1991 then "Career Opportunities" is a movie that very much still is watchable even now in 2021, now 30 years after it was released. And the movie does have that timeless feel to it, so that was quite some accomplishment on behalf of writer John Hughes and director Bryan Gordon.

My rating of "Career Opportunities" lands on a six out of ten stars. If you haven't already seen this movie, you should do so, if you have the opportunity to do so. It is quite well worth the time and effort.

One of John Hughes' underrated gems! I rented this movie already possessing knowledge of what it was about, who was in it, and what other people thought about it from their comments. "Career Opportunities," had plenty of laughs along with some deeper, emotional setback drawn out between Whaley and Connelly, who of course both played their parts VERY well. And every other guy who hasn't seen a young Jennifer Connelly... should. The story unfolds smoothly as we find out more about the lives of two small town people.

It's a movie where the characters are trying to understand where the rich, abused, dreaming, "tease" and dweebish, hopeful, incompetent "town liar" come from. There is also a sweet connection they develop from just talking about their lives and how they've changed since they last met. The more we hear and develop feelings for these two confused people, the more we can illustrate their current dilemma of being trapped within the lives that their families want them to live.

The soundtrack was pretty great! One of the best soundtracks I have heard in a comedy.

Dermot and Kieran Mulroney did a nice job playing some goofy small town crooks. However I thought the whole burglar part of the movie could have been achieved in better ways-- but it is what it is.

If you do watch this film look out for a cameo appearance from John Candy as the Target Team manager who gives Whaley his janitor position. Very funny... and casual.

Altogether, very well done and VERY underrated. I still don't understand why Whaley didn't become a bigger star after this movie such as Broderick did with Ferris Bueller. And OK, so maybe not perfect, but there are MUCH worse movies out there. "Career Opportunities" is a fun film that should be watched if you're a fan of John Hughes' work.

Oh John Hughes, my favorite writer. Trying here to return to teen territory with this tale of a night clean up boy at a Target. The guy stumbles into a girl hiding inside and the two have some harmless fun till a couple of robbers show up (sound familiar). There are maybe 2 or 3 laughs in this movie, but many of the 81 minutes majorly suck. Hughes great insights from the 80s are absent here, and Whaley just comes across dull. Conellys gorgeous yes, which is the only thing to keep male viewers going with all that cleavage, but others will doze off. Thought Id never say it, but Hughes has delivered his worst here. Ick.