Directed by Savage Steve Holland
The 1980s seemed like a golden age of teen movies. Films like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off spoke to an entire generation of young people. While I enjoy many of the movies previously mentioned, there is one 80s teen flick that deserves just as much attention, Holland’s bizarre comedy Better Off Dead.
Lane Meyer (played by John Cusack) loses his girlfriend, Beth, to the high school’s ski captain. Heartbroken, Lane tries to commit suicide several times but always in failure. With the help of his friend Charles (played by Curtis Armstrong), he realizes that if he could beat the ski captain at skiing the K-12, he might win Beth back. Along the way, he befriends a French foreign exchange student, avoids a maniacal newspaper boy and deals with his mother’s highly questionable cooking.
The plot is pretty predictable and sticks to a standard teen romantic comedy formula, but with a zany comedic twist. And it’s the surreal, bizarre humor that makes Better Off Dead such a cult 80s favorite.
For example, there is a scene early on in the film of Lane in his math class. Everyone in the class, except Lane, is engrossed with the words spewing from the teachers mouth. When the teacher asks for volunteers to come to the board, everyone raises their hands desperately wanting to be picked. And when assigned over 100 pages to read for homework, the class rejoices. In any ‘normal’ class setting, such enthusiasm is practically non-existent.
The Meyer Family
Other zany and absurd aspects of the film include:
- Charles who will snort snow, Jell-O and just about anything else, because he can’t get a hold of real drugs. “This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?“
- Lane’s younger brother who makes a Laser gun, hosts a ‘party’ in his bedroom full of hookers and builds a rocket ship.
- The overly persistent paper boy. “Two dollars!“
- Lane’s Mother.
- Clay animated hamburgers singing Van Halen.
- Ricky trying to speak the “international language.”
The list goes on, but I don’t want to spoil everything that makes this movie so enjoyable to watch again and again. John Cusack is fantastic as Lane Meyer as well as the supporting cast. And it is the supporting oddball characters that really make this film unique and help separate Better Off Dead from other teen movies.
Everybody wants some!
Better Off Dead is full of energy and wacky comedic moments. It’s a teen movie that should be required viewing for all.
