Better Off Dead... (1985)

A teenager has to deal with his girlfriend dumping him among family crises, homicidal paper boys, and a rival skier.

Director:

Savage Steve Holland

Writer:

Savage Steve Holland

Stars:

John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Lane Meyer
David Ogden Stiers	...	Al Meyer
Kim Darby	...	Jenny Meyer
Demian Slade	...	Johnny Gasparini
Scooter Stevens	...	Badger Meyer
Diane Franklin	...	Monique Junet
Laura Waterbury	...	Mrs. Smith
Dan Schneider	...	Ricky Smith (as Daniel Schneider)
Yuji Okumoto	...	Yee Sook Ree
Brian Imada	...	Chen Ree
Chuck Mitchell	...	Rocko
Amanda Wyss	...	Beth Truss
Curtis Armstrong	...	Charles De Mar
Aaron Dozier	...	Roy Stalin
Frank Burt Avalon	...	Roy's Ski Buddy #1

Storyline

The teenager Lane Meyer has a crush on his girlfriend Beth Truss. When Beth dumps him to stay with the successful skier Roy Stalin, Lane is depressed and decides to commit suicide. However he gives up and tries to improve his skill of skier to ski the dangerous K12 slope to impress Beth. Meanwhile his neighbor Mrs. Smith receives the exchange French student Monique Junot and her fat son Ricky Smith considers Monique his girlfriend; however, Monique has an unrequited crush on Lane that does not note her. When Lane stumbles upon Monique in a high-school party, he befriends her. The upset Lane challenges Roy in a competition on the K12 slope but then he regrets. However Monique is a great mechanic and skier, and fix Lane's Camaro and teaches him how to ski the K12 slope. What will happen to Lane?

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | woman wears eyeglasses | boy wearing glasses | girl wearing glasses | attempted suicide | 

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Taglines:

Teenage life has never been darker...or funnier...

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Better Off Dead

Filming Locations:

Sandy's Char Burger - 6223 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$56,371, 25 August 1985, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$10,297,601

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,297,601, 31 December 1985

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&M Films, CBS Entertainment Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Camaro SS seen in the film was owned by the son of the transportation captain, who sold the car in 1989 a few years after the film's release. In 2002, the Camaro was located (in poor condition) at a private residence, where it was purchased, transported from Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida, stripped down, and restored by repair shop Time Machines of Hudson, Florida. The film car did not have the original motor (it was swapped out for a Chevrolet 400 out of a mid-1970s Impala or truck). As of 2014, the Camaro has been seen at several car shows.

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Goofs

When Monique knocks Lane down, as he gets up, he says, "You're that French kid staying with the dorkheads, uhh.. Smiths next door." However, it seems apparent in a later shot (when Monique is throwing oranges) that the Smiths actually live across the street.

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Quotes

Charles De Mar: Wait, wait a minute...
[starts to snort snow off his top hat]
Charles De Mar: [sniff] Oh.
[shouts]
Charles De Mar: Oh! Ugh! Outrageous!
[raises right hand]
Charles De Mar: [shouts] I think I just froze the left half of my brain!
[waves arm in circles]
Charles De Mar: [shouts] Look! I can't move my right arm!
Lane Myer: This isn't funny, Charles! If I don't have a dream, I have nothing!
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The last line of the credits reads The film's over... you can go now.

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Alternate Versions

The network version (which most commonly airs on Comedy Central) had several scenes removed, including the jello snorting scene, Lane's brother with the "How to Pick Up Trashy Women" (along with the women themselves), and the Q-Tip scene in the bathroom.

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Connections

Spoofs Moonraker (1979)

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Soundtracks

Like To Get To Know You Well
Written and Performed by Howard Jones
Courtesy of Elektra Records
by arrangement with Warner Special Products
(P) 1985 WEA Records Inc.

User Reviews

Truly, a sight to behold!

Better Off Dead is the zaniest movie that I think I have ever seen. Let's just recap what this movie has in it. We have a guy that attempts suicide but he can't even succeed at that. There is his best friend that declares that a mountain they are on in the dead of winter is pure snow, saying " Do you know what the street value of this is?" We have a father that is trying to speak the lingo of his kids and fails miserably and a mom that cooks food that literally slides off it's plate. We have a math class full of genius' that get upset when they don't have homework to do. Lane has a younger brother who orders books on how to pick up trashy women and learns how to build rockets. We have the entire male population ( and Barney Rubble ) that wants to go out with Lane's ex-girlfriend now that they are broken up. There is two Oriental guys that want to constantly race Lane and then broadcast it over the loud speaker on their car. There is Porky from the Porky's movies basically playing the same role here, dancing hamburgers, a basketball team that grunts and of course the most relentless paper boy in the history of paper delivery.

Whoooooooo! I'm out of breath. So why do I mention all of these things about the movie? Because all of these little issues combine to somehow make one of the funniest and zaniest movies you will ever see. Better Off Dead is so full of energy that there is enough material in here for ten movies. But Savage Steve Holland makes it work. Don't ask me how, but he does. I think I'm going to stop here because if you haven't seen this movie you have to see it now. This is a completely original film and it also one that no one will ever have the guts to make again. This is one hell of a film.