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Career Opportunities (1991)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 15
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 9

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 3

No consensus yet.

audience

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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 6,640

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Movie Info

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

PG-13, 1 hr. 23 min.

Comedy

Directed By: Bryan Gordon

In Theaters: Mar 29, 1991 Wide

On DVD: Oct 27, 1998

MCA Universal Home Video

Career Opportunities Trailer & Photos

Cast

Frank Whaley
Jim Dodge
Jennifer Connelly
Josie McClellan
Dermot Mulroney
Nestor Pyle
John M. Jackson
Bud Dodge
Kieran Mulroney
Gil Kinney
Barry Corbin
Officer Don
John Candy
C.D. Marsh (uncredited)
Jenny O'Hara
Dotty Dodge
Noble Willingham
Roger Roy McClellan
Dan Albright
Dave Hockner
Royce D. Applegate
Reid Binion
Cal Dodge
Marc Clement
Otis
Nada Despotovich
Penny Dodge
Wilbur Fitzgerald
Bob Bosenbeck
William Forsythe
Custodian
Leigh French
Denise Galik
Lorraine
Heidi Meyer Gilbert
Girl in Car
Troy M. Gilbert
Boy in Car
Andy Greenway
Boy #2
Joanna Lipari
Coleby Lombardo
David McCharen
Danny Nelson
Gas Station Owner
Paige Pollack
Voiceover
Gary Schwartz
Jonathan Stark
Lou Walker
Farmer in Cafe
Benji Wilhoite
Stock Boy
Andrew Winton
Boy #1
David Arnott
RonReaco Lee
Boy #3
Pam Dixon Mickelson

Critic Reviews for Career Opportunities

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (9)

[The film] has plenty of absorbing characters, smart, snappy dialog and delightful stretches of comic foolery.

January 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Scenes like the one in which Jimmy's father eats fried chicken dipped in peanut butter should appeal to kids of all ages.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

Jennifer Connelly is very easy to look at. Career Opportunities isn't.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Hal Hinson

Washington Post

Top Critic

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.

November 12, 2011 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy

| Comment

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

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.

July 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs

| Comment

Scott Nash

Three Movie Buffs

An entertaining film with interesting characters the viewer can actually care about.

January 8, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Mediocre teen pic, with a memorable Connelly performance

February 25, 2004 Comment

James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Tolerable only for Jennifer Connelly.

January 17, 2003 Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

San Francisco Examiner

Paper-thin premise entertains thanks to a game Whaley and a luminous Connelly.

July 25, 2002 Comment

Scott Weinberg

eFilmCritic.com

Aside from the interminable music videos, set to a constant, very loud Top-40 soundtrack, much of the film is so surrealistic and weird that you may think certain scenes are meant to be of daydreams.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City

| Comment

Chris Hicks

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Career Opportunities

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I loved this light romantic comedy, Connelly is beautiful and charming and cute, and it's funny, what's not to like?

September 6, 2010

AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

This could of been a Hughes all time classic, I enjoyed it right up to the part Whaley stopped parading around in his underwear, (oh this sick mind of mine.) I'll say it loud and clear to everyone who has failed to realize it, " Whaley Rules! ". I think this movie loses what ever it had going for it, when a straight

August 8, 2009