I've seen "Better Off Dead..." in late 2017. I have a tendency to avoid teen comedies or coming-of-age films once I passed into adulthood. To my defense, most teen films done lately are atrocities, to say the least, with dumb down characters, playing on stereotypes and modern social issues in the wrong way.
Not ten minutes in and I instantly regretted not seeing this movie earlier. It has such a wacky take on teenage days in the 80's, with a hint of surreal and supernatural.
"Better Off Dead..." is about a high school student, played by boy-wonder John Cusack, who gets dumped by his girlfriend, leaving him with suicidal inclinations while trying to win her back by extreme measures. The characters are simply excellent, just mildly stereotyping the teen genre, with a memorable newspaper boy and his eternal yell "I want my two dollars!"
Savage Steve Holland's debut film would assure him as a cult director, but sadly once the 90's emerged, he would fall into an abyss of mediocraty.
"Better Off Dead..." is a unique teen movie that captures the vibe of the 80's and is an essential watch in a period where the "brat-pack" ruled.
