Two Strangers, One Locked-in Connection

Read Time:4 Minute, 35 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Career Opportunities (4KUHD)
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Genre: Comedy, Romance, Crime
Year Released: 1991, Kino Lorber 4K 2025
Runtime: 1h 23m
Director(s): Bryan Gordon
Writer(s): John Hughes
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Frank Whaley, Dermot Mulroney, John Candy, Kieran Mulroney, Barry Corbin, John M. Jackson, Jenny O'Hara, Noble Willingham
Where to Watch: Available April 22, 2025. Pre-order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, a curious blend of romantic comedy, social commentary, and low-stakes thriller that feels made on impulse and edited on a deadline. It’s quirky, flawed, and occasionally disjointed, but a strange charm hovers beneath the surface even in its craziest moments.

At the center is Jim Dodge, a self-proclaimed big deal in a small town with nothing to show but a string of short-lived jobs and delusions of grandeur. Frank Whaley plays him with a mix of swagger and buried insecurity, giving the character enough texture to avoid caricature. Jim isn’t the likable rebel you root for immediately—he’s the kind of guy who talks a big game but can’t finish the first inning. And yet, something about his desperation for meaning makes him a compelling figure to follow.

The film hits its stride in the setup: an overnight shift in a Target, where Jim is locked inside. It’s here that he encounters Josie, the town’s reluctant debutante. Jennifer Connelly brings a subdued intensity to Josie, who uses her wealth as armor and an anchor. Her presence in the store isn’t a coincidence—it’s a calculated choice rooted in rebellion, though her motives aren’t fully unpacked. Connelly infuses the role with just enough sincerity to sell the character's quiet defiance.

The film comes alive when the two collide in the store’s fluorescent purgatory. They roller-skate down aisles, share internal wounds, and bond over mutual dissatisfaction. While occasionally underwritten, these scenes work better than the rest of the film because they lean on character-driven interactions. There’s a looseness here that feels refreshing, capturing that uncertain energy of youth—the awkward blend of invincibility and insecurity.

Just as the movie builds solid pacing, a pair of criminals are thrown into the mix. Their arrival derails the narrative and shifts the tone into something cartoonish and unnecessary. Played for laughs and mild suspense, their presence feels more like a studio note than a logical story evolution. It's not just that they don’t work as villains—they interrupt a movie that was already saying something, however quietly.

The whiplash makes more sense when you know the production history. Though filmed before a much bigger Hughes-penned hit, it was shelved and released after that success. It’s hard not to suspect that the changes were made to recapture lightning in a bottle—but what came out instead was a film that feels pulled in three different directions. The film's final cut, which clocks in just above the bare minimum for a feature, feels more like a rough sketch than a fully realized story.

Still, Bryan Gordon’s direction isn't without merit. He uses the store’s setting to create interesting visual contrasts, particularly during quieter moments when Jim and Josie are left to reflect. The cinematography complements these shifts with visual cues that move from warm to isolating, depending on the mood. Thomas Newman’s unflashy but emotionally calibrated score adds longing to the scenes that do land.

Despite its identity crisis, there’s something about CAREER OPPORTUNITIES that sticks. Maybe the central relationship holds more weight than the rest of the movie deserves. Perhaps it’s the early 90s aesthetic, the way it captures a transitional moment in both film and culture. Or maybe it may be a bit of watching a filmmaker like Hughes step just slightly outside his wheelhouse.

What makes CAREER OPPORTUNITIES worth talking about isn’t its polish or precision—it’s that it tries. Even when it falters, it reaches for something meaningful. And in that fluorescent-lit store, where two strangers meet and dream of something better, it briefly captures the kind of cinematic spark that can’t be engineered—only stumbled into.

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[photo courtesy of KINO LORBER]

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