Better off Dead is the first of three 1980’s teenage romantic comedies starring John Cusack that I watched a lot in my youth. The second as Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything which I mentioned in my article on Steely Dan’s Rikki Don’t Lose that Number and finally Rob Reiner’s The Sure Thing. Today’s movie is the darker and more absurdist of the three, but it contains so many endlessly quotable scenes and outrageous gags some which made me howl, yelp and shriek as a young teenager. I watched this movie a bucket load, an almost unhealthy amount; and even though four decades have passed since it came out, I still vouch for it. I was just watching scenes from it on You Tube again and found myself laughing silly which goes to show you how much growing up I’ve still got to do.
IMDB Storyline:
After his girlfriend Beth Truss ditches him for boorish ski jock Roy Stalin, sad-sack high-school student Lane Meyer decides that suicide is the only answer, but his inept attempts bring him nothing but agony and embarrassment.
Better off Dead is spectacularly manic but it really works. Amidst the zany comedy (inc. the maths formula jokes in a spellbound class and the monster child Scooter Stevens who wields newspapers as weapons and to whom two dollars means the world) and plentiful sight gags (the cereal boxes with all the giveaways cut out / clueless stay-at-home mom who makes slime-ridden meals that seem somehow sentient and slide off the plate by themselves) Holland throws in some amusing cel animation, a stop-motion fantasy sequence, and a cameo from Barney Rubble. Curtis Armstrong ostensibly reprising his role from Revenge of the Nerds gets the lion’s share of one-liners and he delivers them with so much aplomb. Yet despite all the mania, the film’s comedy has a level of discipline and restraint that ensures all the jokes land and humorous plot points established early on are satisfyingly resolved.
Better off Dead may not be for everyone and perhaps best enjoyed by those who lived through the 80s and understand its cultural peccadilloes. What I would like to know is if you have watched your fair share of 80s comedies like me; do you think this movie stands the test of time and could be enjoyed by teenagers these days?
The following are extracts from IMDB Trivia:
- According to director Savage Steve Holland, the film is mostly autobiographical. Holland was suicidal when his high school girlfriend left him for captain of the ski team. A paperboy named Johnny Gasparini would harass him for two dollars. According to Holland, the ex-girlfriend contacted him to apologize when the film came out.
- Savage Steve Holland said in an interview that John Cusack hated this movie, and walked out of the film after twenty minutes during a special screening. Holland said “The next morning he basically walked up to me and was like, ‘You know, you tricked me. Better Off Dead was the worst thing I have ever seen. I will never trust you as a director ever again, so don’t speak to me‘.
- Henry Winkler (The Fonz from Happy Days) was instrumental in getting the film made. In the early 1980s, Savage Steve Holland’s short film, My 11-Year-Old Birthday Party, played at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Winkler saw the film and took a liking to Holland. At Winkler’s suggestion, Holland checked out John Cusack in The Sure Thing (1985), which Winkler executive produced. Holland thought that Cusack was perfect for the lead role.
References:
1. Better off Dead – IMDB
2. Better off Dead – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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