Better Off Dead (1985) * * *

 

Directed by:  Savage Steve Holland

Starring:  John Cusack, Diane Franklin, Curtis Armstrong, Aaron Dozier, Amanda Pays, Dan Schneider, Kim Darby, David Ogden Stiers, Chuck Mitchell

Suicide is a touchy subject for a comedy, but Better Off Dead offers enough distractions to blunt high schooler Lane's (Cusack) attempts to off himself, which occur after he is dumped by his longtime girlfriend Beth (Pays) for the arrogant captain of the skiing team named Roy Stalin (Dozier).   I'm sure the last name Stalin is intentionally meant to invoke thoughts of the Soviet dictator.   Better Off Dead is at its heart a safe and mostly inoffensive teen romantic comedy with goofy subplots you likely will never see in a movie again.  

What subplots?  Lane is forever challenged to a drag race by two Japanese men who, according to Lane, "One speaks no English and the other learned English by watching Wide World of Sports,"  In other words, the guy sounds like Howard Cosell calling play-by-play.  Another is a paperboy chasing and terrorizing Lane all over town over $2.00 Lane owes him.   The kid is indefatigable, enduring being run over and even falling off the side of a mountain.   Don't worry, he survives to continue his quest.  From what I read, this is based on a real paperboy who pestered writer/director Savage Steve Holland over money owed to him, stretched out to maximum comic effect. 

We also have Lane's mother who makes Jell-O that slinks off the plate by itself and a pretty French foreign exchange student named Monique (Franklin), who lives across the street with the overbearing Ricky Smith (Schneider), a nerd who claims Monique as his girlfriend.   Will she perhaps become Lane's new love interest?  Does a bear crap in the woods?   Are there stars in the sky?  Franklin is fetching and more intriguing than the icy blonde Beth, who spends the rest of the movie as Roy's arm candy and maybe one line of dialogue.   Isn't the brunette always more interesting than the blonde in these types of comedies?   

Reading the trivia section for Better Off Dead on imdb.com, Holland included many of his own experiences into this film, including the suicide attempts.   Cusack is the perfect choice to play the sad-sack Lane, who I'm sure is based on Holland himself.   He was fresh off the success of The Sure Thing from the same year and was establishing himself as an up-and-comer.   Curtis Armstrong, fresh from Revenge of the Nerds (1984), plays Lane's ne'er-do-well best friend Charles, who snorts the snow from the top of a mountain peak and excitedly declares, "This is pure snow!!,"  He exhibits the same gross-out and funny type of performance we saw in Nerds.   

Better Off Dead combines the reliable standards of teen romantic comedies with inventive throw-ins which keep us from recognizing the other cliches.   Still, Better Off Dead has developed a following over the years and it maintains its charm.   Oh, and would you believe the movie ends with the villainous Roy getting his comeuppance in a big ski race?   Is the moon in the sky along with the stars?