Career Opportunities (1991)
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40% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
37% of users liked it
(6,640 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
- 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
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Variety Staff, Variety
[The film] has plenty of absorbing characters, smart, snappy dialog and delightful stretches of comic foolery.
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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.
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Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Jennifer Connelly is very easy to look at. Career Opportunities isn't.
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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.
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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.
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)
Cast
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Frank Whaleyas Jim Dodge -
Jennifer Connellyas Josie McClellan -
Dermot Mulroneyas Nestor Pyle
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John M. Jacksonas Bud Dodge -
Kieran Mulroneyas Gil Kinney -
Barry Corbinas Officer Don
