History Film / BetterOffDead

After being dumped by his utterly-unfaithful girlfriend Beth (Creator/AmandaWyss), luckless teenager Lane Meyer (Cusack) makes several futile attempts to kill himself, while wandering in and out of a series of encounters with the residents--or should we say ''inmates''--of his bizarre hometown of Greendale, California. These include Lane's long-suffering father Al (Creator/DavidOgdenStiers), ditzy mother Jenny (Creator/KimDarby), and super-genius younger brother Badger (Scooter Stevens); his severely-underachieving best friend Charles (Creator/CurtisArmstrong); a pair of Korean car-racing enthusiasts, the one who speaks English having learned it from listening to [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]]; and one ''very'' determined paper-boy. Lane's life finally begins to turn around when he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), a comely French exchange student who has been sentenced to live with the Meyers' grotesque neighbor Mrs. Smith (Laura Waterbury) and her socially awkward son Ricky (Creator/DanSchneider).

-->[[AcceptableTargets "Now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that!"]]

--->[[AcceptableTargets "Now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that!"]]

After being dumped by his utterly-unfaithful girlfriend Beth (Creator/AmandaWyss), luckless teenager Lane Meyer (Cusack) makes several futile attempts to kill himself, while wandering in and out of a series of encounters with the residents--or should we say ''inmates''--of his bizarre hometown of Greendale, California. These include Lane's long-suffering father Al (Creator/DavidOgdenStiers), ditzy mother Jenny (Kim Darby), and super-genius younger brother Badger (Scooter Stevens); his severely-underachieving best friend Charles (Creator/CurtisArmstrong); a pair of Korean car-racing enthusiasts, the one who speaks English having learned it from listening to [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]]; and one ''very'' determined paper-boy. Lane's life finally begins to turn around when he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), a comely French exchange student who has been sentenced to live with the Meyers' grotesque neighbor Mrs. Smith (Laura Waterbury) and her socially awkward son Ricky (Creator/DanSchneider).

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** John Cusack traveled back in time to a 1980s ski resort in ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine''. Somebody is even heard shouting "I want my two dollars!" at one point. This is despite the fact that Cusack evidently considers this film to be an OldShame.
** Cusack's protagonist in ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' also grew up in the 1980s and also had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood. He ended up becoming a [[HitmanWithAHeart professional assassin]]. We first meet him [[spoiler:shooting a bicycle deliveryman]].

* LoveAtFirstSight: At the very end of the film, Ricky meets a gal who is essentially his female equivalent. They silently smile at each other and walk off hand in hand, leaving his mother squashed in the snow.

*** After Lane tells her about the Camaro before going to the ski shop, she looks knowingly at the covered Camaro, foreshadowing both that she understood what she said and that she will be able to fix it.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Badger, who gets an actual working RayGun as a [[CompetitionCouponMadness box-top prize]] in the mail, and then a book on how to pick up trashy women, and then is later seen in a room full of them, complete with booze and alcohol. [[spoiler: By the end of the movie, he's built an actual working space shuttle and flies off into space.]]

** Badger never says a word throughout the film. His book on how to pick up trashy women presumably includes some non-verbal methods.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Lane's mother serves Monique "Frahnch Fries", etc. And to drink, Peru!

After being dumped by his utterly-unfaithful girlfriend Beth (Creator/AmandaWyss), luckless teenager Lane Meyer (Cusack) makes several futile attempts to kill himself, while wandering in and out of a series of encounters with the residents--or should we say ''inmates''--of his bizarre hometown of Greendale, California. These include his long-suffering father Al (Creator/DavidOgdenStiers), ditzy mother Jenny (Kim Darby), and super-genius younger brother Badger (Scooter Stevens); his severely-underachieving best friend Charles (Creator/CurtisArmstrong); a pair of Korean car-racing enthusiasts, the one who speaks English having learned it from listening to [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]]; and one ''very'' determined paper-boy. Lane's life finally begins to turn around when he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), a comely French exchange student who has been sentenced to live with the Meyers' grotesque neighbor Mrs. Smith (Laura Waterbury) and her socially awkward son Ricky (Creator/DanSchneider).

After being dumped by his utterly-unfaithful girlfriend Beth (Creator/AmandaWyss), luckless teenager Lane Meyer (Cusack) makes several futile attempts to kill himself, while wandering in and out of a series of encounters with the residents--or should we say ''inmates''--of his bizarre hometown of Greendale, California. These include his long-suffering father Al (Creator/DavidOgdenStiers), ditzy mother Jenny (Kim Darby), and super-genius younger brother Badger (Scooter Stevens); his severely-underachieving best friend Charles (Creator/CurtisArmstrong); a pair of Korean car-racing enthusiasts, the one who speaks English having learned it by listening to [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]]; and one ''very'' determined paper-boy. Lane's life finally begins to turn around when he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), a comely French exchange student who has been sentenced to live with the Meyers' grotesque neighbor Mrs. Smith (Laura Waterbury) and her socially awkward son Ricky (Creator/DanSchneider).

* ThrowTheDogABone: Ricky's existence is clearly pretty miserable, and at the very end of the movie he gets a girlfriend.

* BrickJoke: After establishing some of the absurd things Badger gets as his [[CompetitionCouponMadness box-top mail-order prizes]], including a book on how to pick up trashy women and an actual working RayGun, he acquires a space shuttle construction kit about halfway through the movie. Other than Lane bringing up in passing that his brother is still working on it, it doesn't come up again until [[spoiler: the very last scene of the movie, when a space shuttle suddenly crashes through the Myers' roof and flies off into space.]]

* CassandraTruth: Al is right on the money when he observes that [[spoiler:Monique has to have known some English to come over as an exchange student]] but he's ignored.
** Upon hearing about Monique's arrival, he speculates that Mrs Smith agreed to host an exchange student because she thinks it's the only way Ricky will get anything resembling a social life or girlfriend. Monique, at least, seems to think the same and expresses disgust at ''both'' the Smith's actions towards her.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Lane's mother Jenny is a LethalChef who gives bizarre Christmas gifts. Her idea of a French dinner includes french fries, french dressing, french bread, and Perrier (which she pronounces as "Peru" for some reason).

* DieOrFly: Played for laughs. No amount of encouraging pep talks can get Lane to make it down K-12 without crashing and tumbling...[[spoiler: until [[SuperPersistentPredator the paperboy comes right out of nowhere and starts chasing him again]], at which point he not only beats Stalin in a race while skiing for his life, but does it on ''one ski'' after the other one broke.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are multiple hints that Monique might be faking.
** The multiple disgusted looks she gives at Ricky and his mom.
** When she steps on the gas in Lane's car. The only way she could have understood that the Ree brothers wanted a race was if she understood English.
** The part where she blasts the soda in Stalin's face. She obviously knows exactly what he's saying.
** When Ricky says he's telling his mom after the crash, she starts laughing harder.
** After Lane tells her about the Camaro before going to the ski shop, she looks knowingly at the covered Camaro, foreshadowing both that she understood what she said and that she will be able to fix it.
** On a less character related note, Charles tells Lane to take up the sax again to impress Beth. Late in the movie, he's shown playing it at the restaurant, but not for Beth. For Monique.

* FunnyForeigner: [[ForeignExchangeStudent Monique]] mostly avoids this. except [[spoiler:for one or two ''slight'' problems with English.]]

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Ricky when he's dancing with Monique. [[spoiler:He's also a couple of heads taller than his new girlfriend at the end]].

* IntimidatingRevenueService: Not the IRS, but Johnny the Paperboy constantly pursues Lane for the $2 he owes for four weeks of newspapers, [[spoiler: going so far as to go up a ski slope with his bike ''and'' skis to collect his money.]]
* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Lane's mother serves Monique "Frahnch Fries", etc.
** And to drink, Peru!
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Monique restores Lane's Camaro and coaches him on how to conquer the K-12, and falls in love with him in the process even though she knows she is actively aiding his efforts to win Beth back. Of course, [[spoiler:Lane comes to his senses in time and goes off with Monique at the end of the film.]]

* LanguageOfLove: Subverted, when [[spoiler: it turns out that Monique speaks English fairly fluently.]]

* {{Malaproper}}: Monique gets into this territory once or twice due to not being a native English speaker.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Mr Kerber's math class, wherein advanced geometry is ludicrously popular. Apart from Lane, who is too busy moping over Beth to pay attention, every student in the room reacts with unbridled interest and fascination to every word that comes out of Mr. Kerber's mouth, and when he asks for volunteers to demonstrate the problems on the latest (very, ''very'' long) homework assignment, every student in the room (apart from Lane, again) raises an eager hand. (To be fair, Kerber is played by Creator/VincentSchiavelli).

* OnlySaneMan: As noted, Greendale evidently had to import from ''France'' to get even one person whose bubble isn't at least a little off-plumb. And then the environment evidently takes it's toll on her as well...

** Cusack's protagonist in ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' also grew up in the 1980s and also had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood. He ended up becoming a [[HitmanWithAHeart professional assassin]]. We first meet him [[spoiler:shooting a bicycle deliveryman.]]

* StealthPun: The mountain Lane hopes to ski down to impress Beth enough to take him back is called the K-12, as in the grades of pre-collegiate education in the USA.
** This is also a reference to K2, a very big, very dangerous mountain in the Himalayas.

''Better Off Dead'' is a 1985 teen {{black comedy}} film written and directed by Savage Steve Holland and starring Creator/JohnCusack.

''Better Off Dead'' is a 1985 teen comedy film written and directed by Savage Steve Holland and starring Creator/JohnCusack.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/better_off_dead_movie_poster_1985.jpg]]

''Better Off Dead'' is a 1985 teen comedy film directed by Savage Steve Holland and starring Creator/JohnCusack and Creator/DavidOgdenStiers.

After being dumped by his utterly-unfaithful girlfriend Beth (Creator/AmandaWyss), luckless teen Lane Meyer (Cusack) makes several futile attempts to kill himself, while wandering in and out of a series of encounters with the residents... inmates of his bizarre hometown. These include his super-genius younger brother Badger (Scooter Stevens); his severely-underachieving best friend Charles (Creator/CurtisArmstrong); a pair of Korean car-racing enthusiasts, the one who speaks English having learned it by listening to [[Series/MondayNightFootball Howard Cosell]]; and one ''very'' determined paper-boy. Lane's life finally begins to turn around when he meets Monique (Diane Franklin), a comely French exchange student who has been sentenced to live with Lane's grotesque neighbors (Laura Waterbury and Creator/DanSchneider).

* CloudCuckoolander: Lane's mother Jenny is a LethalChef who gives bizarre Christmas gifts. Her idea of a French dinner includes french fries, french dressing, french bread, and Perrier (which she pronounces as "Peru" for some reason).

* MessOnAPlate: Lane's mother spoons grey-green goo (with raisins!) directly onto Lane's plate. He pokes it with his fork and it crawls away.

* OnlySaneMan: As noted, Greendale evidently had to import from ''France'' to get even one person whose bubble isn't at least a little off-plumb. And then the environment evidently takes toll on her as well...

** Next, he tries jumping off a bridge, only to [[TrashLanding land in the back of a garbage truck]].

* {{Claymation}}: A brief sequence set in the burger joint where Lane works.

* TheDeterminator: The paper boy will stop at nothing to receive his pay.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: There are multiple hints that Monique might be faking.

* Foreshadowing: There are multiple hints that Monique might be faking.

* FreezeFrameBonus/FiveSecondForeshadowing: If you pay close attention, in the cafeteria scene where Stalin harasses Lane, Monique, and Ricky, you can actually see Monique take the Coke off the table, leading up to the more obvious close up of her hand shaking it up and then spraying him with it.

* BlindDate: Joanne and Lane get set up by their fathers. Neither is actually interested in it and Sally just calculates how much money they would have spent on the date and suggests Lane just give her that and they avoid the trouble of actually going out on a date.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Chris looks a little uncomfortable as Stalin insults Lane at the BurgerFool place.

* KickTheDog: Monique isn't exactly wrong to break up with the obsessed, eccentric Lane, but telling him to his face that it's just for social status and she thinks he's dragging her down is pretty cold.

** Out of the natives, Al and Lane are the ones who appear to be the most normal. Of course, Lane isn’t all there himself, and Al is the quintessential BumblingDad, which should tell you something about Greendale.