Ah, the 1980s - I'll be honest, I don't remember them - but I was in a position in the 1990s to get caught up, and I caught up well - watching some of the best cultural artifacts that decade had to offer - allowing them to permanently cement themselves in my mind - and the best parts, films only went for 90 odd minutes - an easy watch, not like the marathon epics directors want us to sit through these days!
So - let's rewind the old tapes and head back into the VHS collection. Did you ever see 'Weekend at Bernies'? I'm pretty convinced everyone has seen it - it is, afterall, such an outrageous proposition that we can't help but laugh at the black humour and irony which runs through it.
Here's the plot: Two young mates are working in a large corporate setting - one seeks to get ahead with hard work and dedication, the other likes to ride on tail coats. Both are in the office on a Saturday - pouring over large sheets of printer paper (Printer paper, now there's a roadtrip with nostalgia) - and they discover an accounting error. The discovery was huge! The following Monday, they took it straight to the CEO, Bernie - who wanted to invite the young men out to his island holiday home to reward their hard work.
& Let's face it - this is no 'holiday' - hanging out on a skyscrapper looking at numbers!
Except - that wasn't quite his intention; knowing that his de-frauding of the company had been discovered, it was his intention to kill the young men and continue his lifestyle! With the two men dead, he'd be back in a position where no one would be able to question the numbers!
This is where the dark humour starts - as the young friends take to the island's boat, a hitman is seen murdering Bernie. As the young men arrive at the island, they make their way to their boss's home - only to discover him dead. This raised the moral problem:
- Should they go to the police, declare the death, and spend their weekend answering questions? or
- Should they enjoy the fabulous weekend they had planned?
They choose the latter:
They set Bernie up - drink and cigarette ready to go - and, how kind - even offering to swat flies from his head. The deception begins to fool everyone, as the island folk go from home to home in a constant party congo-line. You'd think someone would notice he's dead, but nope - and, it seems over and over, Bernie is injured or falling off things. It's slapstick at its finest!
And here is the gang, going for a joy-ride in Bernie's golf cart. As they'd pass a local, Bernie's hand would life in a waving motion - giving the impression that he was still alive.
And it seems that Bernie is a ladies man - not even needing to or be alive to draw the attention of the young women around him (or, did they just need to see dollar signs?)
And here are the guys having a joy ride in the speed boat. They had a great idea of using ropes to tie Bernie down, and to enjoy the sun - but again, this became an opportunity for humour, as Bernie flies from the boat, being dragged behind it in his net of ropes!
And again, Bernie hanging out down at the beach - having a great time! (This shot is from the end of the film, but - it goes to the idea that Bernie is everywhere and very much a part of the weekend!)
And here's Bernie at a party - getting some tennis tips, before later haggling over a car sale - one of the locals taking Bernie's silence to his offers as a way of negotiation, and he ended up upping his offers until Bernie's head falls forward - which he takes as an acceptance of an offer.
And then the other half of the humour, as Bernie is dead - the young friends assume no one else knows this - but of course, the hitman who killed Bernie knows - and part of the curious humour of this film is that the hitman regularly encounters Bernie, seemingly alive - and it freaks him out! How could the dead be living, what had gone wrong? And so he has to try to kill him over and over again!
By the end of the film, the hitman is arrested by the police - although, he sounds like a madman, claiming Bernie is in fact alive! Bernie is then loaded into an ambulance, before he rolls from the vehicle and onto the beach where a young boy seeks to bury him.
With all these holiday vibes, it was no doubt that they went on to create a sequel!
This post was in response to the CineTV Tweet, get on it! https://twitter.com/CineTv_io/status/1510664652467879938
All images sourced from the film, distributed by 20th Century Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. VHS GIF provided as part of the Tenor gif library.
