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Better Off Dead...

Better Off Dead...

Comedy · Romance · 1985

High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.

Movie details

Better Off Dead...

“Insanity doesn't run in the family, it gallops.”

1985 Comedy · Romance 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

High school student Lane Meyer sinks into suicidal depression when his girlfriend dumps him for jock Roy Stalin, the high school ski racing champion. Meanwhile, he has to deal with his eccentric family, a tenacious paperboy and an obnoxious neighbor whose mother is hosting a beautiful French exchange student named Monique.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Better Off Dead...?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Savage Steve Holland

Written by

Savage Steve Holland

John Cusack

John Cusack

Lane Meyer

Amanda Wyss

Amanda Wyss

Beth Truss

Diane Franklin

Diane Franklin

Monique Junot

A

Aaron Dozier

Roy Stalin

Curtis Armstrong

Curtis Armstrong

Charles De Mar

David Ogden Stiers

David Ogden Stiers

Al Meyer

Kim Darby

Kim Darby

Jenny Meyer

Court is in session

Put Better Off Dead... on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.