Better Off Dead is a childhood favorite that I still enjoy as an adult. Yes, the filmmaking is a little amateurish, but that's part of the charm. This movie has so many quotable quotes ("I want my two dollars!" "Gee, I'm really sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.") and moments that make me smirk. I don't think they'd ever make a movie like this these days, so I'm glad they did in the 80s.
Better Off Dead
1985
Action / Comedy / Romance
Better Off Dead
1985
Action / Comedy / Romance
Plot summary
High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.
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September 22, 2014 at 07:56 PM
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Movie Reviews
I don't think they'd make a movie like this today
Half 80s teen comedy, half insane
Savage Steve Holland, who went on to create the insanely wonderful Saturday morning cartoon series Eek! the Cat, combined two 80s genres - John Hughes romantic comedies and gag-a-second movies like Airplane! to create one of the more unusual teen comedies of the 80s.
The movie stars John Cusack as a jilted teen pining for his ex while oblivious to the absurdly perfect girl across the street, the two girls falling into the classic 80s stereotypes of the cold blonde and the magical, quirky brunette.
Cusack is more emotionally unstable than a Hughes protagonist, spending much of the movie in inept attempts to kill himself.
He also has to deal with living in an insane world. His mom makes weird gloppy dishes that crawl away on their own power, a newspaper boy seems to be the beta version of the Terminator, Cusack's best friend snorts all his food. The movie is frequently hilarious, resulting in a minor classic.
crazy wacky 80s teen movie
Cartoonist Lane Meyer (John Cusack) has a strange family in Northern California. His father Al (David Ogden Stiers) struggles against the psycho newspaper boy Johnny. His mother Jenny (Kim Darby) is a crazy cook. His little brother Badger is a genius mute. His best friend Charles de Mar (Curtis Armstrong) is a weirdo who keeps trying to get high. His girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) dumps him for the douche ski team captain Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier). Roy also keeps Lane from getting on the ski team. Lane continuously get challenged to race by two Japanese brothers, one who speaks no English and the other who speaks like Howard Cosell. Lane keeps trying to kill himself and then he is befriended by French foreign-exchange student Monique (Diane Franklin). He also saves her from her host's weird creepy son.
This is a crazy weird addition to the 80s teen movie. It oscillates from silly stupidity to hilariously funny. It's surreal weirdness. And they throw in some fun lines like, "That's a real shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that." The only drawback is that Lane doesn't talk to Monique until the second half of the movie. They need to get together sooner. There is so much wackiness. Some works really well but others do fall a bit flat. Cusack is a terrific teen star who can roll with all the craziness.