Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 2-SEP-2003
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30088 in DVD
• Brand: WHALEY,FRANK
• Released on: 1998-10-27
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.com
If you're a lifetime member of the Jennifer Connelly fan club, you'll be in the passionate minority of people (100% male) who won't care that this 1991 comedy is wallowing in its own oily puddle of lameness. The gorgeous Ms. Connelly is conspicuously put on display in this typically lightweight fluff from writer-producer John Hughes. Frank Whaley does his best to liven up the male-fantasy plot about a semi-nerdy teen who gets a night-watchman job in a variety store, only to find himself locked in overnight with the local knockout (Connelly), who's as rich as she is beautiful. She's also really unhappy with her home life and her bully boyfriend (Dermot Mulroney), so it's Frank's big opportunity to make his move as a sympathetic Romeo. Shallow and contrived, the movie does have its standard moments of John Hughes delicacy, and a cameo by the late John Candy scores bonus points for comedy. Still, it's clear that the movie exists primarily to satisfy adolescent lust--and with Connelly as the object of desire, this otherwise tiresome comedy is a triumph of wish-fulfillment casting. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

It's Got Jennifer Connelly
This movie is all right, I suppose. Jennifer Connelly is in it, long before her Academy Award for "A Beautiful Mind," when she started looking like Lara Flynn Boyle thrown under a steamroller. The story is fairly lightweight, a bit of thinly comic fluff about Jennifer Connelly and some other guy whose name doesn't matter getting stuck in a Target store after hours. Unfortunately, just as the story really gets going, with Jennifer Connelly roller-skating around in tight pants and a dangerously overstressed T-shirt, an unwelcome plot twist intrudes in the form of two burglars, who are neither absurd enough to be funny nor threatening enough to be dramatic. At any rate, Jennifer Connelly is in it.

One highlight of the movie is a scene where Jennifer Connelly, without roller skates but still in the T-shirt, goes for a ride on one of those drug store mechanical ponies. Sadly, even in the DVD version of this film, this important scene was cut far too short in favor of the less compelling themes of the script. Still -- Jennifer Connelly. In a T-shirt. Riding a mechanical pony in her T-shirt. Jennifer Connelly is doing this.

So, even though it's not exactly Schindler's List, I give this film 4 stars -- 2 each -- for Jennifer Connelly.

Did I mention Jennifer Connelly?

Jennifer Connelly. Thank you.

Ride that pony!
Yes, it's an okay film. In some ways, it anticipates later films such as "Raising Arizona." It never reaches the level of hilarity, but it has one undeniable strength:

Jennifer Connelly rides a K-Mart-style mechanical pony for about five minutes. That's worth the price of the DVD alone.

Attention Shoppers! Comedy on Aisle 5.
Amusing tale of a town liar (Whaley) who is down on his luck in obtaining and holding a job in a small Southern town. When forced by his father to get a job or get lost, Whaley gets a job at the local Target store working the midnight shift as the store janitor. There, he encounters Josie (Connelly), the daughter of the richest man in town, who is hiding out in the store past closing hours.

The relationship between Whaley and Connelly develops, and they discover each other's strengths and faults. When two burglars break into the store to rob it blind, Whaley and Connelly must play it cool in order to stop them. However, the beautiful Connelly only leads all three guys into further trouble due to lust.

Written by the great John Hughes, "Career Opportunities," is somewhat like a "Home Alone" for teens. Hughes, who has written similar stories in the past (e.g. "Pretty in Pink" & "Some Kind of Wonderful" have the same premise) does a good job in illustrating life in a small town (suprisingly it does not take place in Shermer, Illinois, the fictional town Hughes has used in his past films).

While the film starts to slow down after the discovery of the two burglars, the film ends happily, justice served and all. The transfer to DVD is great. The only NEGATIVE thing about the DVD version is the fact that there is no theatrical trailer included on the disc, even though the packaging states that there is. Whether an act of false advertising or a company error, this leaves the owner short of all expectations we expect when we buy films in this great format.

If you are in the mood for a cute comedy involving a geeky hero and a beautiful girl, this is the perfect film for you. Keep an eye out for Dermot Mulroney (Julia Robert's "best friend" in "My Best Friend's Wedding") as one the scruffy burglars (the other burglar is played by Dermot's real-life brother, Kieran). Also watch for a special unbilled cameo by the late comic John Candy who plays the manager of the Target store.