Career Opportunities (1991)

Such a frustrating disappointment

one of my absolute favorites!

Load of rubbish!!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I grew up in the 80's and in 1990 left for the Navy. So I guess somehow I missed this film because up until the other day, I've never heard of it. But because Jennifer Connelly is in it, I decided to watch. Wow, what a disappointment. The plot is terrible & the acting is crappy. Parts of the movie are edited so oddly I'm sitting there saying to myself "Huh? What was that cut away for and why did you cutaway to that?" The film makes no sense in someways. Very, very poor attempt in my opinion. I guess it's no surprise that I never heard of this film because it's awful. The ending is extremely odd & lame. I gave it 3 stars mostly because Jennifer C.. is in it. If she wasn't in it - I'd give it a 1.

As the movie started, I reeled back. Could this be it? The right disk in that box? What the hell, this photograph of a bloody corpse? I knew nothing about this movie, there was some research on THE HOT SPOT's Jennifer Connely after INVENTING THE ABBOTTS's trailer on the Internet ruled it out as a good choice (though I did obtain it after all, but that's another story, see the review) and on Wikipedia I saw this one listed but all I could find on it was dodgy slow motion snippets which (ahem) conclusively proved that some guys were ga-ga about Jennifer way-back-then SO this is the stuff I collect, so, cut to the chase, I thought she was some kinda shopgirl new at the job (the "career opportunity") in romantic comedy and here it starts off all murderous.And then, this Frank Whaley dude. Who instantly reminds you of the kind of dorky, dorky guys in 80's music videos, the kind that carried a tune but looked like a dog's breakfast... Arrgh. And I was sitting there viewing this and really feeling like I usually do on movie afternoon Sundays, no surprise! My pursuit of the pretty girls on film landed me with another bummer! And this bummer is a big, big stinker. Comes the drag roller-skating scene. He thinks he's imagining her maybe as she stands there while he is making a fool of himself. I can SO relate to that. From there on, the movie gets a green light from me.It is a must for Jennifer Connelly fans. Umpteen years ago I saw her in THE HOT SPOT with that shiny long, long hair and wearing those flowery summer sandals and I have fond memories of that. I did see THE ROCKETEER for no other reason than JC, but my memory of that one is next-to-zilch. She was the older girl in recently-watched INVENTING THE ABBOTTS but completely outclassed my old flame Liv STEALING BEAUTY Tyler, so I got me this title to further my appreciation. And while the movie won't be in the vast majority's taste, no prize for guessing that, it's one of the best Opportunities to watch a young Jennifer early on in her Career. Very, very Brooke Shields, by the way.Basic premise, gentle loser-boy fantasy stuff. What if She (my dream girl) was here now while I was going through my usual boring old routine. After what was initially experienced as a bad start, I now find that Jim bloke quite like a buddy. But movie does take half an hour to warm up. That's not good.

John Hughes wrote but didn't direct this one, and it shows, Frank Whaley is a slacker and a chronic liar who spends his first night as a night janitor at Target and hooks up with runaway rich girl Jennifer Connelly.The second act is quite good and has some elements of The Breakfast Club - existential, one-location story about the interaction between very different people. The third act completely misses its mark when the plot is interrupted by two robbers, and it turns into a Home Alone clone and ends on a very unsatisfying note. Connelly is very very good though and Whaley is good too, similar to but more likable than Broderick's Ferris Bueller.

Spoilers The phrase "Jennifer Connelly Wow" can be found all over the internet. Hollywood had never seen the likes of Jennifer Connelly before. She is an incredible beauty. I write this 18 years after this movie came out and she still is the hottest woman in Hollywood. There are favorite scenes of Jennifer - The roller skating scene and the rocking horse scenes are near the top for most guys and they are all over Youtube. Jennifer can really distract a guy from seeing what takes place in this movie. The first 20 times I saw this, I had the following questions: 1) Does Josey McClelland (Jennifer Connelly) really like Jim Dodge (Frank Whaley)?2) Since Jim Dodge is considered the town liar and can not seem to hold a job, what does Josey McClelland see in Jim Dodge? What kind of future could she possibly see with Jim Dodge? 3) If Josey likes Jim so much, why does she leave him in the store and drive off, when she steals the crooks' stolen car? Consider, Josey left Jim locked in a store with two angry criminals that subsequently began to look for him with loaded guns.Answers - Well the answers are demonstrated and shown by where the movie winds up. 1) Yes - Definitely!2) She sees that he is honest with her, except for not admitting to himself as well as her, that he does not want to live at home, and he is misunderstood by everyone in this little town including his parents, and everyone sees that Jim is doing something but they call it lying. But Josey has a similar talent and therefore, understands what Jim is good at, and where they need to go to take advantage of their talents. 3) She knows that those two stupid crooks have easily fallen for Jim's lies and acting previously - They are in no way a match for the talents of Jim Dodge. Consider the fantasy (from the leading male or Jim Dodge prospective) that those answers prove out: The sexiest woman comes into your store and is locked in with you for the night. The incredible beauty falls for you, big time, and she sees something about you that no one in this town ever saw. She knows that you are better than any problems that might come along, much better. Because she shares this talent with you The talent she sees in you has been on display for everyone to look at and you even have a nickname pointing to it, and somehow no one ever looked at the positives related to it, except her. Then you give her a point blank demonstration your talent, showing how you can convince two killers by talking into a radio that you picked off the Target shelf and then talking into some little red book, that they are surrounded by men with guns trained on them. This makes her jump for joy, literally. She knows the answer that you don't. The answer she forces you to see, move! You are lying to yourself in thinking you like living at home. Get out of your parents house and get away from this little town and find a place that people appreciate the fact that you are the world's greatest "liar". someone who can easily and naturally make people believe something you are pretending to be. You are therefore, a super talented ACTOR! You go through the town in one last view of it with her than without even saying goodbye, you move out of your parents house and together with her you go to (you guessed it, the place where actors go) Hollywood, California, where the story ends up.