Career Opportunities is sort of a transition movie for John Hughes. Having built a reputation in the 80s for making (mostly) realistic teen movies starring the likes of Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, Hughes had a huge hit in 1990 with Christmas-themed comedy Home Alone. This would be the beginning of his slide into family movie Hell (and such trash as Dennis the Menace, Beethoven, and Baby's Day Out) but he decided to crank out another angst-y young adult comedy. The result, which cribs quite heavily from his prior box office smash in the finale, is an effort that's really only worth watching for Jennifer Connelly in a tight white t-shirt.

Jim Dodge (Frank Whaley) is a constant screw-up. When we first meet him he's being fired from yet another of his countless jobs. Seems that Jim has a reputation as being the town liar as he's constantly spinning tall tales and making himself out to be more than the goal-less frustration to his parents he is. But that's all about to change when he gets a job as the night janitor at the local Target - plentiful product placement here.

On his first night on the job, Jim spends most of it just screwing around and making a bigger mess than he has to clean up. Considering he's by himself, he gets free run of the place and uses it to his advantage by eating (hence, stealing) food, riding around the aisles in roller skates, and generally acting like a five-year-old visiting Willy Wonka's factory. Little does he know that local rich girl Josie (Connelly), who is filled with that aforementioned angst because she can't get along with her dad, fell asleep in the change rooms just before store closed and they'll both be trapped in there until morning.

This is all good for Jim, since he has a nerdy crush on her, and Hughes does try to get in as much "on the pulse of the youth" dialogue as he can but the flick takes an odd turn in the final third when two robbers (Dermot Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney) break into the store and proceed to take them hostage. This leads to a finale where Josie uses her bludgeoning sexuality to her advantage and Jim becomes a hero on the way to a happy ending.

While Career Opportunities makes for a breezy 83 minutes and never wears out its welcome, it's also nothing worth watching. Hughes seems to have lost his knack for writing teenage characters and it feels exactly like what it is: a quick stopgap between Home Alone entries. As he's written, Jim is the kind of guy you don't really want to befriend. He's just so flighty and tells so many fibs it's hard to like him. As for Josie, she's just your typical spoiled wealthy girl and her reasons for rebelling are thin at best.

In the lead, Whaley (who went on to memorable parts in Pulp Fiction, Swimming with Sharks, and Vacancy) is suited for the role and does get to do a few sarcastic quips but his character is just too passable. As I said above, Connelly certainly makes good eye candy and there is a scene played for laughs where she seductively rides a quarter operated rocking horse, but that's about as much depth as you'll get from Josie. The Mulroney brothers fare better as our mildly inept crooks and, despite them feeling completely out of place to the plot, offer up a few mild chuckles.

Considering the legacy of winning movies Hughes was responsible for before his death in 2009, Career Opportunities is a disappointment at best. It has none of the early outrageous humour he brought us in National Lampoon's Vacation, little of the engaging characters seen in stuff like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club, or even the toned-down chuckles of The Great Outdoors. However, judged against everything that came after it, this still feels like one of the last "true" Hughes scripts - just not a particularly good one. (Chris Hartley, 6/5/13)

Directed By: Bryan Gordon.
Written By: John Hughes.

Starring: Frank Whaley, Jennifer Connelly, Dermot Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney.