Weekend at Bernie's (1989)

Two losers try to pretend that their murdered employer is really alive, leading the hitman to attempt to track him down to finish him off.

Director:

Ted Kotcheff

Writer:

Robert Klane

Stars:

Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andrew McCarthy	...	Larry Wilson
Jonathan Silverman	...	Richard Parker
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Gwen Saunders
Terry Kiser	...	Bernie Lomax
Don Calfa	...	Paulie, Vito's Hit Man
Catherine Parks	...	Tina, Vito's Girl
Eloise DeJoria	...	Tawny (as Eloise Broady)
Gregory Salata	...	Marty, Vito's Assistant
Louis Giambalvo	...	Vito
Ted Kotcheff	...	Jack Parker, Richard's Dad
Margaret Hall	...	Lomax's Secretary
Timothy Perez	...	Central Park Mugger
Mark Kenneth Smaltz	...	Harris, Security Oficer
Anthony Mannino	...	Superintendant
Polly Segal	...	Woman in Elevator

Storyline

Two young men are trying to make their way in a corporation. One on charm, the other on hard work. When they go to the president (Bernie) with a serious financial error on a printout, he pretends to be thrilled and invites them to his beach house for the weekend. He actually plans on having them killed. Bernie is also fooling around with the girlfriend of his mafia partner. When the partner has Bernie killed, the boys end up having to pretend Bernie is still alive as the frustrated hit man tries time and time again to complete the job.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title | boss | weekend | beach | beach house | 

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Taglines:

Bernie may be dead, but he's still the life of the party!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Weekend at Bernie's

Filming Locations:

Figure Eight Island, Harnett, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,506,086, 9 July 1989

Gross USA:

$30,218,387

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,218,387

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gladden Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The house that was shown from the outside on the beach as Bernie's house was actually built at the south end of Ft. Fisher and was then demolished at the end of the movie.

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Goofs

When Richard and Larry are on the roof Larry picks up the radio. He gets tar on it. A couple of minutes later when Richard comes over to explain the error, there is no tar on the radio.

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Quotes

Larry Wilson: Why are you shooting us? We're just friends of Bernie's.
Paulie, Vito's Hit Man: I hate... Bernie's friends!
[keeps shooting]

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Alternate Versions

Much of the explicit language was toned down for the UK DVD released 2001. Overdubs from the original actors were used to make the movie more "family friendly".

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Connections

Spoofed in Black Dynamite: The Shit That Killed the King or Weekend at Presley's (2012)

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Soundtracks

Hot and Cold
(End Title Song)
Written by Andy Summers and Winston 'Pipe' Matthews
Published by ANDY SUMMERS, INC. d/b/a EVOKE MUSIC
Administered Worldwide by LISTEN ROOM MUSIC, INC. (BMI)
Produced by Richard Rudolph and Michael Sembello
Performed by Jermaine Stewart
JERMAINE STEWART Appears by Courtesy of VIRGIN RECORDS LIMITED and ARISTA RECORDS, INC.

User Reviews

Uproariously funny black comedy.

Hilarious, totally off the wall black comedy about two buddies (Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman) whose boss, Bernie, has been bumped off by gangsters but whose death goes unrecognized the entire weekend by his self-centered beach friends. Utterly tasteless, goofy, ridiculous, wonderfully funny movie with loads of quirky characters. Andrew McCarthy at his most charmingly loopy and Jonathan Silverman terrific as his straight arrow buddy. Great turn by Terry Kiser as Bernie, who will not go away or play dead. Ridiculous situations that are just plain fun to watch. A movie to remember with delight and to enjoy at a repeat viewing.