1985 Directed by Savage Steve Holland
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.
John Cusack David Ogden Stiers Kim Darby Demian Slade Amanda Wyss Diane Franklin Scooter Stevens Curtis Armstrong Yuji Okumoto Brian Imada Laura Waterbury Dan Schneider Chuck Mitchell Aaron Dozier Frank Burt Avalon Vincent Schiavelli Taylor Negron Elizabeth Daily Joe W. Davis Peter Ellenstein Edward Mehler Thomas Rollerson Toby Iland Jonathan Charles Fox Darren Harris Randy Stoklos Sam High David Vaughn Tina Littlewood Show All…
Sapore di hamburger, Jobb ha hulla vagy, やぶれかぶれ一発勝負, やぶれかぶれ一発勝負!!, По-добре да умра, Hellere død end levende, Lanny dreht auf, Ο άσος της χυλόπιτας, Más vale muerto, Pipo tiukalla, Gagner ou mourir, Jobb, ha hulla vagy, やぶれかぶれ一発勝負！！, 작은 사랑의 기적, Lepiej umrzeć, Minha Vida é um Desastre, Mai bine mort..., Уж лучше умереть, Ölmekten Beter, Краще вже померти..., 再见人生
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UK15
AustraliaPG
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God I forgot how absurdist and charming this is... Feels more like a series of sketches than a cohesive movie, but some of those, man, are goddamn awesome. A stop motion hamburger rocking to Van Halen, dude skiing down a mountain with one ski, using a Hall and Oates song at the most opportune time. Besides, how can you hate a movie that ends with a kiss on top of a black camaro with John Cusack holding a saxophone?
So I finally got offered a great job yesterday and accepted it! To celebrate “operation: get life back on track” I decided to revisit a favorite!
Life’s pretty good sometimes! :)
this fucking guy took a shower with socks on and it still wasn't the weirdest thing in the movie
One of the more clever teen comedies of the 1980s. I love how absurd and cartoon-like this is from the get-go. The movie is filled to the brim with colourful characters and wacky situations. I'm a big fan of Cusack and he's great here. I still got a little crush on Diane Franklin/Monique. The kid brother will always be my hero. Fuck Stalin, man. What a dick!
It was a lot of fun watching this with a Better off Dead first-timer (Michelle).
If you get dumped and then get challenged to a ski competition, you're gonna have a bad time.
The 1980s Teen Comedy Weekend!
Suddenly the Asspen episode of South Park makes so much more sense now.
Better Off Dead is a very weird film indeed. For the most part it seems like a very familiar teen romantic comedy - John Cusack's dumped by his girlfriend who opts for the captain of the ski team instead and a tomboy-ish alternative appears on the horizon in the form of French exchange student Diane Franklin while his weird best mate, Curtis Armstrong, provides comic relief. So far, so good.
Except there is far, far more going on here - some of it completely surreal, other parts of it utterly unbelievable, but most of it very funny indeed. In fact, it starts…
"I know it's bacon.... what have you done to it?!?"
I fucking LOVE Better Off Dead. It still manages to make me laugh and I still manage to quote it after all these years.
"Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky"
Savage Steve Holland's writing/directorial is filled with black humor and surrealist comedy and boasts an extremely lovable cast. Over the years this has become one of my most sacred movie experiences—it’s easily my favorite entry in the 80's 'coming of age teen comedy romance' genre.
After the credits finished rolling, I simply just hit play again. It just feels natural.
Why is this film available like no where? It’s so good!!!
My older brother: 10/10
My younger brother: 10/10
My dad: 10/10
My cousin: 10/10
🔙 Star Trek: The Motion Picture
🔜 Police Story
Everybody’s pick
Look, all I’m going to say is how the cuss does like nobody know about this? It’s a laugh riot. Seriously one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
My dad: 10/10
My cousin: 10/10
My little brother: 10/10
Top 57 favorite films of all time
🔙 Scream 2022
🔜 Liz and the Blue Bird
Full of offensive stereotypes and John Cusack, but surprisingly, overwhelmingly fun. Why do I dislike John Cusack so much? It's one of the great mysteries of my life. I have no idea. Maybe he wants to be in on the joke too much, in those 80s films he did especially he appears as the modern-day hipster, too cool to care, and I kind of want to smack him. Still, as far as John Cusack movies-that-aren't-'High Fidelity' go, this one is pretty fantastic.
What happened to Savage Steve Holland's career? He's only doing Disney and Nickelodeon films now, which seems a shame, mostly because I can't enjoy the kind of self-aware acting-as-a-form-of-self-branding-I've-got-an-album-coming-out in those films anymore. Although I do see how…
TANDEM TITLE MAZE
Following: Dead Man
Next Up: The Quick and the Dead
Oh, thanks to everyone who recommended this film to me (Joel R., Sutter Cane, surely others)... I didn't even know it existed but it's quite a hidden gem and antithesis of the typical 80s teen movie.
It's ahead of its time on the always timely topics of sexism, objectification, entitlement, consent and the reality of unrequited love... And from such an awkward and impressionable age.
Cusack's charismatic but lovestruck Lane is at the heart of this coming of age story. After spending six months of elevated self esteem and status due to dating one of the most popular girls at school, Beth, he finds himself suicidal -…
