Movie Review: Career Opportunities
How can you not love John Hughes films? That warm boomer sincerity and optimism is so painfully needed in the world today. From The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles to Home Alone and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the man had a talent for creating compelling yet relatable characters. He also was a gifted comedy writer with works like Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains and Automobiles giving us some of Steve Martin and John Candy’s best performances. With such a pedigree my curiosity was piqued when I learned that Hughes had actually disavowed one of his own films, a little known flick from 1991 called Career Opportunities. The film was panned by critics and flopped at the box office. Alas much as I wanted this to be an under-appreciated gem, after sitting through it, I have to agree with Hughes; Career Opportunities is one big missed opportunity.
The basic concept had a lot of potential. Career Opportunities is about two young people yearning to escape a mundane suburban life. The protagonist Jim gets a snappy intro at the start where we see why he is known as “the town liar” as his talkative capricious nature prevents him from holding down a job. His fed up father forces him to take a job as night janitor at a Target department store wherein he is locked overnight. This is where the bulk of the film’s brisk 83 minute runtime will take place. Jim’s female counterpart is Josie, played by an enchanting Jennifer Connelly. She is the abused daughter of an ultra-rich mogul who owns much of the town. A twist of fate causes her to be locked in the store with Jim and their interactions serve as the film’s main substance.
There are a few things I liked about the movie. For one, the look and feel. Target is actually a neat setting, as is the small town thanks to its nostalgic atmosphere. The character costumes were good. Visually the movie is really enjoyable (I am not only referring to Jennifer Connelly). Also the soundtrack is full of bangers. “Tiny Little Heart Attack,” “Cruel Crazy Beautiful World,” and, “Better World” are all classic bops I have been jamming to at the gym for a while now. Finally I have to give Frank Whaley credit. He’s not leading man material like Matthew Broderick, but he’s a solid character actor with decent comedy chops. A better script and director and this movie may have propelled him to the A list. I’m glad he has nevertheless enjoyed a long career in Hollywood with a number of impactful supporting roles.
Career Opportunities has two problems, one big and one small. The smaller one is in its execution. Though it was written by John Hughes it was directed by his friend Bryan Gordon, a far less experienced hand. We can feel that in the uneven pacing. Scene length and timings are very wonky, particularly towards the end when a subplot involving a couple of crooks heats up. The editing is really jarring in a few spots to such a degree that it becomes confusing as to what actually happened. A number of scenes also just drag on too long. The movie just lacks polish.
The bigger problem is in the film’s characters and themes. The two contradict each other. Jim is presented like a Ferris Bueller type character — a lovable rascal who tries to talk his way out of everything. It’s almost a spiritual sequel. This is realistically how a guy who clearly peaked in high school like Ferris would probably end up; dead end jobs and living with his parents as Ferris’ friend Cameron famously said. Career Opportunities telegraphs a theme of growing up, but it never follows through with Jim’s character. He never matures in the film. In fact he never does anything demonstrating real growth or any sort of character arc.
Josie, the gorgeous rich girl, falls in love with Jim immediately. He doesn’t win her over or demonstrate any sort of merit. He doesn’t charm her or even make her laugh. She literally does all of the work. When Jim says he likes living at home Josie lectures him on the importance of being a man and starting his own family. When Jim says being a night janitor is for him, “a beginning,” Josie replies, “it’s an end.” I don’t get this. She’s implying Jim is too good to be a janitor, yet we the audience have not seen one lick of evidence suggesting this to be true. Josie doesn’t just rewrite Jim’s natural character arc, she also dictates his goals to him by saying they need to run away to Los Angeles, immediately provides him the means by giving him the $52,000 in her purse (!), and even risks abduction and sexual assault to save his life at the end when they are held up by the two violent gunmen.
You can see the problem here. Everything with Jim is unearned. He’s not a sympathetic character like Ferris Bueller. Ferris is resourceful and charismatic. He has some real challenges and growth being checked by his friend Cameron and his sister. He has a decent antagonist in the school principal. More importantly even though he is a bit of an arrogant prick, in the film he isn’t asking for much. Nothing more than a single day off from school. We’ve all cut classes before, we can all relate.
Jim by contrast has no character growth, no redeeming qualities, no good antagonist, and really no goals of his own. Compared to Ferris, he is also asking for so much more. He wants money and respect, but doesn’t want to work (he doesn’t even bother to do the janitor job his father got for him). He wants the prettiest richest girl in town but never has to take any initiative or even be of use to her in any way. Their romance feels like lazy fan fiction from some lonely nerd who never got over the popular cheerleader in high school. “Surely if she were just locked in a room with me she’d fall in love after one conversation!” As if.
Career Opportunities is so naive that it feels like an 80’s movie released in the 90’s. That may be a part of why it didn’t land with audiences as the end of the Cold War brought about a much more ironical era of films. I think it could have worked really well if the romance felt more believable and Jim’s character had matured and shown a meaningful reason for leaving town with Josie. Lacking that you have a very unsympathetic leading man in a shallow story that feels like a dorky fantasy.
Career Opportunities is a Monet of a film. At a distance its soundtrack, visuals, and concept are all very endearing. The best way to appreciate it is purely as a vibe. The music video ‘Sunset’ by The Midnight is actually a much better version of the movie. It cuts to the essence of the feeling the story was going for without any of the awful narrative and character choices. The movie fails to effectively convey any theme, has a weak protagonist, so-so comedy, and has distractingly bad editing and directing in parts. Would that Hughes had directed it himself and reworked the script. I’d say only watch it if you’re a Hughes fanboy.
Grade: C+
