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Better Off Dead

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Lane Myer (John Cusack) is stuck in a personal hell. A compulsive, adolescent Everyman growing up in Suburbia, USA, not only does he fail to make the prestigious high school ski team (again), but his beloved sweetheart, Beth, also leaves him for Roy, the team's popular, arrogant captain. If this isn't bad enough, he's stuck with a mother who frighteningly experiments--rather than cooks--with food, a brother who builds rockets out of models, and a best friend so desperate for drugs that he settles for snorting powdered snow. Faced with these prospects, Lane opts to end it all ... until he comes up with a ridiculous plan to gain acceptance and win Beth back. Director Savage Steve Holland warps this simple, clichéd premise, letting his wacky imagination twist it into a fairly original, slightly dark, and completely hilarious '80s teen comedy. Not as serious a "suicide-attempt" movie as, say, Harold and Maude but just as funny, the film's more a collection of screwball sketches than a narrative. Holland livens the high jinks with surrealistic fantasy touches, including Jell-O that crawls, a hamburger that sings Van Halen, drawings that mock its creator, Japanese race-car drivers who only speak Howard Cosell, and a psychotic paperboy seeking blood over a missing $2. Cusack puts the whole thing on his shoulders and carries the insanity with another one of his touching, obsessively romantic performances, which, along with Say Anything, The Sure Thing, and One Crazy Summer, made him the quintessential (and appealing) personification of lovestruck adolescence and suffering. --Dave McCoy

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(5 stars) - A Classic in Teen Comedies
This is one of my all-time favorite movies! I love the whacky, off-the-wall vibe of this film. John Cusack is great, as is the underrated Curtis Armstrong. This is the story of Lane Meyer (Cusack) whose girlfriend has left him for the captain of the ski team. Lane then tries to find ways to kill himself. But a new love interest inspires him to challenge for the top spot on the ski team. My favorite line is from Charles DeMarr (Armstrong) who says, "Lane, I've been going to this high school for seven and a half years. I'm no dummy." Enjoy this movie!

(4 stars) - John Cusack!
I love these older goofy movies, and you don't get too much better than Better Off Dead. John Cusack is a genius in everything I have ever seen him in. He is cute, funny and just an average guy. You can relate to him and he is never dull. I really enjoy the plot to the movie because it is original and gives a different twist to a classic theme.

(5 stars) - John Cusack is a funny teenager....
I remember the first time I saw this movie. A teenager who girlfriend DUMPS him and he can only respond about committing suicide...but his too aware about his surrounding and how high school work. I know its a comedy but it has deep roots of how high school culture...is so so surreal. or fake. you choose. five out of five because its funny, it classic John Cusack (if you like Gross Pointe Blank you'll like this), and it will leave a smile on your face. how about that for a good movie? peace.

(4 stars) - bought it to share!
Ok...so I LOVE this movie! I purchased it to share with my nieces & nephew...who are way younger. I'm glad they liked it. We laughed sooooo hard. The movie arrived quickly from Amazon and I'm very pleased with the service...as always.

(1 stars) - DVD is improperly transfered
The transfer of this awesome movie stinks! Some of the best scenes, like the paperboy's initial demand for $2, have been partially rubbed out and skip. Why don't production companies just leave these movies alone so people can enjoy them for what they were originally? This movie is perfect just the way it is; there was no need to fuss with it.

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