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Title: Better Off Dead... (1985)
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| 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 Junot | |
| 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 |
|
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Frank Burt Avalon | ... | Roy's Ski Buddy #1 |
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? Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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John Cusack's girlfriend has just dumped him for the biggest jerk in school, and John deals with the depression, anger, and frustration in humorous ways. Slowly, he finds himself bonding with French exchange student Diane Franklin, a beautiful and clever young woman, that helps to build up Cusack's self-image so he can win his girlfriend back.
Better Off Dead follows a familiar basic storyline. Main likeable character is dealt a bad hand in life, pulls themselves up by their bootstraps, and ends up triumphing over the people who pushed them down. This formula led to such films as "Animal House", "Revenge of the Nerds", and "Porky's". Not that these films are bad, they are just similar in basic plot.
Better Off Dead however, adds a bizarre surreal quality unaccomplished by these other films. Perhaps this is due to the claymation hamburger sequence, or the unlikely skiing competition at the end of the film.
Or perhaps it's due to the parade of familiar faces from other 80's films. John Cusack's best friend is none other than Curtis Armstrong, best known as "Booger" in the Revenge of the Nerds movies. Next door neighbor and consummate slob Dan Schneider is recognizable as "Dennis" from the TV show "Head of the Class". Cusack's boss at the fast food joint is played by Chuck Wallace, the title character from "Porky's". And with a bit part, yet one the funniest in the whole film, Yano Anaya reprises his "Grover Dill" persona from "A Christmas Story" in the form of a vengeful paperboy. I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!!!
Also has some of the funniest lines in 80's teen comedy, such as Franklin's accidental misuse of the word "testicles", and the comment made by an onlooker when Cusack tumbles into a trash truck.
Definitely better than the majority of 1980's teen comedies.