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 Lomax would be the perfect host, except for one small problem: He's dead.

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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:

Hot and Cold

Filming Locations:

Figure Eight Island, Harnett, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$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 the ambulance bumps the stretcher, the body is initially completely covered by the sheet, but a few seconds later the sheet has moved down to partially show Bernie's head, arms and shirt.

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Quotes

Gwen Saunders: Richard, just tell me what is going on!
Larry Wilson: [comes down the stairs, dragging Bernie's body by the leg] Look honey, Bernie's dead, they guys that killed 'em are now after us, can we hide out at your place or what?
[throws down Bernie's leg as he reaches the bottom of the staircase]
Larry Wilson: .
Gwen Saunders: [eyes as big as golf balls]
Larry Wilson: [sees Gwen's horrified expression, holds up Bernie's head] It's just Bernie!
[bangs Bernie's head against the stair support railing]
Gwen Saunders: [covers her mouth quietly screaming in a high pitched squeal] ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The stapling of Bernie's toupee to the head was edited out of the German TV-version.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: The Beast of Hollow Mountain (2017)

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Soundtracks

Night on Bald Mountain
by Modest Mussorgsky
Arranged by Randy Waldman

User Reviews

A Funny Film With a Really Great Idea

"Weekend at Bernie's" is a hilarious film about two losers (Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy) who stumble onto a plan by some unknown person in their company to steal from the corporation. They tell the boss, Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), and it turns out that he is the culprit. Now he wants the two of them killed, but his wandering eyes make him the target of the assassin. Bernie invites the two losers out to his beach-house in the hopes of them being eliminated. However, he is killed instead and when Silverman and McCarthy discover his body they pretend like he is still alive so they can get the great weekend that their late boss promised them. A truly original idea carries this film which is sick in one sense, but amazingly funny in another. Silverman and McCarthy make a surprisingly effective comedy team. However it is Terry Kiser, in one of the most under-rated roles ever seen during the history of the cinema, that makes the film work as well as it can. His uncanny ability to play a stiff corpse for nearly the whole film is truly revolutionary. If there was ever a performance that was overlooked by the Academy, it may be Kiser's role here (do not laugh). Overall the film over-achieves and is well-worth watching at least once. 3.5 out of 5 stars.