43 Years Ago Today, ’80s Classic That Made Tom Cruise a Star Is Still One of His Best

Before Tom Cruise became Hollywood’s most committed action hero, he conquered a living-room floor in socks and tighty whities.

Risky Business opened in theaters 43 years ago on Aug. 5, 1983, turning its young lead into a bona fide movie star. The famous dance to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” remains the scene everyone remembers, but revisiting the movie reveals something sharper, darker, and more ambitious than its pop-culture reputation suggests.

Related: 8 Years Ago Today: Tom Cruise Broke His Ankle Making This Action Masterpiece

The Role That Changed Tom Cruise’s Career

Cruise had already appeared in Taps and The Outsiders, but Risky Business gave him his first true showcase. He plays Joel Goodsen, an anxious, college-bound teenager whose parents leave him alone in their affluent Chicago-area home. One reckless decision leads to a sex worker named Lana, a submerged Porsche, and an increasingly desperate attempt to replace the money he has lost.

Written and directed by Paul Brickman, the film uses that chaos to examine parental pressure, privilege, sex, and the transactional values surrounding Joel. The Criterion Collection describes it as a satire of Reagan-era materialism, with Cruise delivering a “star-is-born breakthrough.”

IMDb similarly calls it the “smart and sexy 1983 teen comedy” that made Cruise a movie star. His performance also earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a musical or comedy—his first nomination from the organization.

Related: 11 Years Ago Today: One of Tom Cruise’s Greatest Action Movies Was Released

One Dance Became a Hollywood Landmark

Cruise later explained to Entertainment Weekly that he ad-libbed much of the routine. To execute the famous entrance, he dusted part of the floor so his socks would slide, then added a sticky substance where he needed to stop at center frame.

The physical confidence is unmistakable, but the performance works because Cruise also captures Joel’s panic and vulnerability. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus, which accompanies a 93-percent score, calls the movie “a sharp, funny examination of teen angst” with one of Cruise’s best early performances.

Audiences responded, too. According to The Numbers, the film earned approximately $63.5 million domestically after opening in 670 theaters—a substantial return on its reported $6.2 million budget.

That success didn’t make Cruise an action star overnight; Top Gun completed that transformation three years later. It did prove he could carry a movie, sell an attitude, and make a carefully controlled character appear ready to explode.

Next: 1986 Comedy Classic, Named One of the ‘Greatest Teen Movies’ Ever, Has a Parade Scene That’s Still Perfect