I picked up this movie to see my favorite 80s comedy actor, Curtis Armstrong who is probably best known for his role as Booger in 'Revenge of the Nerds' or Miles in 'Risky Business.' He's just as good here as the 6-year high school senior and Lane Meyer's friend Charels.
Better Off Dead, sister movie of One Crazy Summer, is one hell of an oddball film for the 80s teen category. It is a mix of strange humor, animated sequences (drawn by writer/director Savage Steve Holland), and a loveable star, to pull off quite an entertaining, and hopefully not too obscure, 80s teen comedy.
John Cusak is his typical outrageous teenager character in his role as Lane Meyer, the same type of character we saw in One Crazy Summer, Hot Pursuit, and others; the one where he is always a regular nice guy who somehow gets caught up in unforseen crazy situations. But Better Off Dead offers the most off-the-wall atmosphere for such a seemingly level-headed kid.
Lane Meyer is a young guy who's long time girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss), breaks up with him. Lane is crushed and isn't quite sure whether he can deal with the problem (even contemplating suicide until he realizes he has not yet even visited New York). Beth has taken up with Lane's blonde macho nemesis, Roy (Aaron Dozier) (who's character is quite similar to Cusak's nemesis character in One Crazy Summer). As guys typically do in these movies to compete for a girl's heart, Lane is going to race Roy in the dangerous K-12 run (there is a joke in the measurement of the slope because 9 is actually the highest and hardest slope rating). But, Lane is in over his head and seems nowhere near ready for such a dangerous slope. But, since things have gone pretty lousy for Lane since breaking up with Beth, what's he got to lose? The tag line 'Sometimes...you're Better Off Dead' is quite right for Lane. It seems like for a while, everything is disastorous for Lane such as always losing the race to the two Japanese brothers who mimic Howard Cossell; the date with the girl who just suggests that Lane give her the money that a date would've cost and spare them both the agony of pretending to enjoy each other's company; or when everybody in the school, including Lane's geometry teacher, keeps asking Lane if it's alright if they ask Beth for her number).
But things get better when a French exchange student, Monique, moves in next door with a fat mama's boy (Dan Schneider as Ricky) and his obnoxious mom who make her stay in America literally a living hell. So, she and Lane Meyer soon enough become friends and maybe life without Beth just isn't so bad for Lane Meyer after all.
The movie is great ("Valley Girl's" E.G. Daily plays at the school dance!), and a completely different kind of 80s teen movies, one that should be in a category by itself, because the things that go on around Lane are so weird. For example, Lane's little brother Badger (Scooter Stevens), who has no speaking lines in this movie, spends the entire film cutting off those little sweepstakes mailers from various household food boxes and mailing them in to get stuff, particularly supplies needed to build himself a rocket (really). In another example, you'll notice that the filming locations used for the slope sequences in which the entire city appears to be covered in a blanket of snow is much different from the sunny, dry climate of the locations where Lane is at school or at home or anywhere but the slope. The Nine Lives song, Paperboy, makes the reference to the running gag of the paperboy in the movie who keeps hassling Lane for his two dollars. "Where's my two dollars?" repeats the kid with a paperboy posse. It subtle and unsubtle humor.
If you like this movie, try Holland's One Crazy Summer, which came out a few years later, starring Cusak (again) and Demi Moore and Bobcat Goldwaith, among others. It is just as bizarre and funny.
Better Off Dead, sister movie of One Crazy Summer, is one hell of an oddball film for the 80s teen category. It is a mix of strange humor, animated sequences (drawn by writer/director Savage Steve Holland), and a loveable star, to pull off quite an entertaining, and hopefully not too obscure, 80s teen comedy.
John Cusak is his typical outrageous teenager character in his role as Lane Meyer, the same type of character we saw in One Crazy Summer, Hot Pursuit, and others; the one where he is always a regular nice guy who somehow gets caught up in unforseen crazy situations. But Better Off Dead offers the most off-the-wall atmosphere for such a seemingly level-headed kid.
Lane Meyer is a young guy who's long time girlfriend, Beth (Amanda Wyss), breaks up with him. Lane is crushed and isn't quite sure whether he can deal with the problem (even contemplating suicide until he realizes he has not yet even visited New York). Beth has taken up with Lane's blonde macho nemesis, Roy (Aaron Dozier) (who's character is quite similar to Cusak's nemesis character in One Crazy Summer). As guys typically do in these movies to compete for a girl's heart, Lane is going to race Roy in the dangerous K-12 run (there is a joke in the measurement of the slope because 9 is actually the highest and hardest slope rating). But, Lane is in over his head and seems nowhere near ready for such a dangerous slope. But, since things have gone pretty lousy for Lane since breaking up with Beth, what's he got to lose? The tag line 'Sometimes...you're Better Off Dead' is quite right for Lane. It seems like for a while, everything is disastorous for Lane such as always losing the race to the two Japanese brothers who mimic Howard Cossell; the date with the girl who just suggests that Lane give her the money that a date would've cost and spare them both the agony of pretending to enjoy each other's company; or when everybody in the school, including Lane's geometry teacher, keeps asking Lane if it's alright if they ask Beth for her number).
But things get better when a French exchange student, Monique, moves in next door with a fat mama's boy (Dan Schneider as Ricky) and his obnoxious mom who make her stay in America literally a living hell. So, she and Lane Meyer soon enough become friends and maybe life without Beth just isn't so bad for Lane Meyer after all.
The movie is great ("Valley Girl's" E.G. Daily plays at the school dance!), and a completely different kind of 80s teen movies, one that should be in a category by itself, because the things that go on around Lane are so weird. For example, Lane's little brother Badger (Scooter Stevens), who has no speaking lines in this movie, spends the entire film cutting off those little sweepstakes mailers from various household food boxes and mailing them in to get stuff, particularly supplies needed to build himself a rocket (really). In another example, you'll notice that the filming locations used for the slope sequences in which the entire city appears to be covered in a blanket of snow is much different from the sunny, dry climate of the locations where Lane is at school or at home or anywhere but the slope. The Nine Lives song, Paperboy, makes the reference to the running gag of the paperboy in the movie who keeps hassling Lane for his two dollars. "Where's my two dollars?" repeats the kid with a paperboy posse. It subtle and unsubtle humor.
If you like this movie, try Holland's One Crazy Summer, which came out a few years later, starring Cusak (again) and Demi Moore and Bobcat Goldwaith, among others. It is just as bizarre and funny.