FEATURE FILM

Better Off Dead...

6.6/10
TMDB579 votes
Original: 97 min

High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.

Genres: ,
Cast: , , , ,

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THE STORY & THE PEOPLE

About Better Off Dead...

Insanity doesn't run in the family, it gallops.

Better Off Dead... (1985) is a film in the comedy, romance genres. Directed by . The cast includes John Cusack, Amanda Wyss, Diane Franklin, Aaron Dozier.

Released
Original language
Runtime
97 minutes
Status
Released
Production countries
United States of America
Production companies
A&M Films, CBS Theatrical Films
Writers
Savage Steve Holland

Better Off Dead... cast & characters

Audience reviews

6.6/10 from 579 TMDB votes. Ratings and reviews are supplied by TMDB. Reviews are attributed to their original authors.

Filipe Manuel Neto

TMDB member review

A stupid teen comedy, but still funny enough. Teenage films are not exactly my “cup of tea”, but I confess that this little comic film pleased me: after being abandoned by his girlfriend who, deep down, didn't like him and was just trying to be the girlfriend of the most popular boy in the neighborhood, a young man decides to die. After some half-hearted and half-hearted attempts, he ends up turning the situation…

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A stupid teen comedy, but still funny enough. Teenage films are not exactly my “cup of tea”, but I confess that this little comic film pleased me: after being abandoned by his girlfriend who, deep down, didn't like him and was just trying to be the girlfriend of the most popular boy in the neighborhood, a young man decides to die. After some half-hearted and half-hearted attempts, he ends up turning the situation around in a surprising way. It's a film that has the advantage of being funny, although it's still as stupid as any other teen film. They treat that snowy hill as if it were a Himalayan peak – they even gave it a name alluding to a real mountain in this range – and good skiing seems to be an obsession for the locals. It's the most absurd thing in the film, at least for me. We also have a bizarre and disgusting family that lives close to the protagonist and that I wouldn't want near my house: besides looking like a beautiful group of idiots, I don't know if those people take baths. There are still some additional oddities, but I won't say much about them... it's better to see. John Cusack did a good job. Still a teenager, the actor was already showing signs of having talent and knew how to take advantage of opportunities to grow in the artistic world, and here he makes a committed and competent effort. The rest of the cast is much weaker, largely due to characters who are essentially clichés with legs. Diane Franklin escapes thanks to a better character, and competent work from the actress.

Questions about Better Off Dead...

What is Better Off Dead... about?

High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.

Who stars in Better Off Dead...?

John Cusack, Amanda Wyss, Diane Franklin, Aaron Dozier, Curtis Armstrong, David Ogden Stiers. See the cast cards above for character names.

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