Career Opportunities (1991)

38% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
37% of users liked it
(6,707 ratings)

John Hughes strip-mines familiar terrain -- in this case his own past successes -- in this comedy that Hughes produced and scripted, directed by Bryan Gordon. Frank Whaley stars as Jim Dodge, a 21-year-old con-man who goes from job to job but likes to put on a facade of success. As Career… More John Hughes strip-mines familiar terrain -- in this case his own past successes -- in this comedy that Hughes produced and scripted, directed by Bryan Gordon. Frank Whaley stars as Jim Dodge, a 21-year-old con-man who goes from job to job but likes to put on a facade of success. As Career Opportunities begins, he has just been fired from another job and has been hired by the local Target store manager (played by an un-credited John Candy) as the night cleanup boy. After the manager locks Jim in the store overnight, he goes on a binge -- playing with the skates, eating candy, watching television, and blasting the stereos. But then Jim discovers that he is not the only person in the store. Also there is rich girl Josie McClellan (Jennifer Connelly) who is spending the night in the store to get her father worried about her. Although Jim knew Josie in high school, when Josie wouldn't even give him the time of day, here they click like two castanets and they romp around the store aisles to a pounding rock score. But just at the moment when Jim and Josie plan to run away together with the $52,000 Josie holds in her purse, two low-rent comic thieves -- Nestor Pyle (Dermot Mulroney) and Gil Kinney (Kieran Mulroney) -- break into the store and Jim and Josie decide to stick it out, saving the store from the bumbling crooks. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Bryan Gordon
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 29, 1991 Wide
On DVD: Oct 27, 1998
Studio: MCA Universal Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
[The film] has plenty of absorbing characters, smart, snappy dialog and delightful stretches of comic foolery.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
Scenes like the one in which Jimmy's father eats fried chicken dipped in peanut butter should appeal to kids of all ages.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Jennifer Connelly is very easy to look at. Career Opportunities isn't.
Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Career Opportunities plays like a hodgepodge of Hughes' greatest hits.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
If we didn't know from other, better Hughes movies what the themes and emotional registers were supposed to be, it's hard to say that this would be able to supply them itself.
Scott Nash, Three Movie Buffs
Let's be honest, the only reasons to watch this movie are Jennifer Connelly in a skintight tank top rollerskating and riding an electric pony.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
An entertaining film with interesting characters the viewer can actually care about.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
Mediocre teen pic, with a memorable Connelly performance
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
Tolerable only for Jennifer Connelly.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Paper-thin premise entertains thanks to a game Whaley and a luminous Connelly.
Chris Hicks, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Aside from the interminable music videos, set to a constant, very loud Top-40 soundtrack, much of the film is so surrealistic and weird that you may think certain scenes are meant to be of daydreams.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I loved this light romantic comedy, Connelly is beautiful and charming and cute, and it's funny, what's not to like?
Cassandra M

This could of been a Hughes all time classic, I enjoyed it right up to the part Whaley stopped parading around in his underwear, (oh this sick mind of mine.) I'll say it loud and clear to everyone who has failed to realize it, " Whaley Rules! ". I think this movie loses… More
This could of been a Hughes all time classic, I enjoyed it right up to the part Whaley stopped parading around in his underwear, (oh this sick mind of mine.) I'll say it loud and clear to everyone who has failed to realize it, " Whaley Rules! ". I think this movie loses what ever it had going for it, when a straight forward plot, which leads to lotsa dead writing, and a film that seems rushed together to make air time. This could have been a wonderful impromptu, since Whaley is a natural riot, and Connely can hold her own. But instead we get a lesson in bad writing, crippled production, and wasted casts. Oh what this could have been.
Lauren D

I was slightly obsessed with Frank Whaley at the time I watched this and so that made it enjoyable enough for me to sit through it. Other than that, it was extremely lame. Bad dialogue, silly plot, no chemistry between Connelly and Whaley etc...
Jim W

Sue me, but I enjoyed this critically....bashed romantic comedy. Well, mostly just because Jennifer Connelly is hot as.....a hot girl who stays the night at a variety store with the night-watchman (Frank Whaley).
Lee K

Always nice to see a young Jennifer Connelly and i thought this movie although very dorky was pretty good!
Leo L

A little on the kooky side!

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Frank Whaley as Jim Dodge

            Jennifer Connelly as Josie McClellan

            Dermot Mulroney as Nestor Pyle

            John M. Jackson as Bud Dodge

            Kieran Mulroney as Gil Kinney

            Barry Corbin as Officer Don

            John Candy as C.D. Marsh (uncredited)

            Jenny O'Hara as Dotty Dodge

            Noble Willingham as Roger Roy McClellan

            Dan Albright as Dave Hockner

            Royce D. Applegate
            
            Reid Binion as Cal Dodge

            Marc Clement as Otis

            Nada Despotovich as Penny Dodge

            Wilbur Fitzgerald as Bob Bosenbeck

            William Forsythe as Custodian

            Leigh French
            
            Denise Galik as Lorraine

            Heidi Meyer Gilbert as Girl in Car

            Troy M. Gilbert as Boy in Car

            Andy Greenway as Boy #2

            Joanna Lipari
            
            Coleby Lombardo
            
            David McCharen
            
            Danny Nelson as Gas Station Owner

            Paige Pollack as Voiceover

            Gary Schwartz
            
            Jonathan Stark
            
            Lou Walker as Farmer in Cafe

            Benji Wilhoite as Stock Boy

            Andrew Winton as Boy #1

            David Arnott
            
            RonReaco Lee as Boy #3

            Pam Dixon Mickelson
            
See full cast