Teen suicide is a serious subject that many would consider to be completely inappropriate as the plot element of teen comedy. Savage Steve Holland, writer and director of 1985 teen comedy Better Off Dead can, in his defence, say that his work is autobiographical and actually inspired by his own failed attempts to kill himself in teen years.
Holland’s fictional alter ego and protagonist, played by John Cusack, is Lane Myer, high school student in Northern Californian town of Greendale. His life revolves about two obsessions – one is skiing and another is Beth Truss (played by Amanda Wyss), beautiful girl whom he was dating for past six months. When she leaves him for the sake of arrogant and better-looking jock Roy Stalin (played by Aaron Dozier), he is so devastated that he attempts suicide. His efforts are unsuccessful, just as attempts to win over Beth that usually ends in major embarrassment or injury. His unbearable misery, completely ignored by his eccentric family, begins to wane when Monique Junot (played by Diane Franklin), French exchange student housed next door, becomes showing romantic interest in him.
This film in its essence follows the most basic cliches of 1980s teen comedies, including nerdy and in some other way handicapped protagonist who vainly pursues romance with beautiful blonde unaware that real happiness awaits in the form of seemingly plain brunette. However, all those expecting typical 1980s teen comedy will be surprised in different ways. Most obvious is complete absence of sex, swear words and gross out humour. Holland has worked in animation and adds couple of animated scenes in order to provide some sort of Greek chorus or illustrate Lane’s frustrations and fantasies. More unusual is large collection of really quirky characters that includes menacing paper boy (played by Demian Slade); Lane’s 8-year old brother (played by Scooter Stevens) who is genius both at building futuristic gadgets and scoring with women; Lane’s mother (played by Kim Darby) who is completely oblivious to her lack of culinary skills that turns every meal into disaster; and, finally, Lane’s best friend Charles De Mar (played by Curtis Armstrong) whose drugs obsession might explain why he is still going to high school while being close to thirty. This approach, which is closer to Monthy Python than the likes of Porky’s, works best in the first half of the film, when the lack of tight and conventional plots allows many vignettes that depict different ways and different characters that abuse, hamper or humiliate protagonist when he doesn’t do it himself. In the second half, when the conventional narrative takes over and Lane has to defeat his skiing rival and win the girl, Better Off Dead starts to become uncomfortably predictable, quality of humour decreases and lack of proper laughs are compensated with soundtrack which would sound annoying to many of the audiences that don’t feel much nostalgia towards 1980s. With audience unprepared for unconventional teen comedy, Better Off Dead failed at box office and its main star, John Cusack, apparently hated it. Like many such films, passage of time and increase of nostalgia gave it cult status, but even those who care little about past decades would probably be at least a bit entertained that provided something completely different in the real of teen comedy.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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