Weekend at Bernie's (1989)

Andrew McCarthy possesses a smug, s**t-eating grin to rival that of fellow brat-packer Tom Cruise, but with a fraction of Cruise's charisma he has to be one of the most irritating actors of his generation. Quite how he became a star is a mystery to me. Still, in the farcical Weekend at Bernie's, he's in good company: co-star Jonathan Silverman is equally as obnoxious.Together, the pair play co-workers Larry and Richard, who, hoping to climb the corporate ladder, go to their boss, Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), with evidence of company embezzlement. Seemingly pleased with their discovery, Lomax invites the lads to his luxury house in the Hamptons for the weekend. What the duo don't realise is that it is Lomax who has been stealing the money and that he has arranged for Larry and Richard to be bumped off by his mob associates. However, in a turn of events, it is Lomax who is killed for fooling around with his Mafia partner's girlfriend. When Larry and Richard arrive at Bernie's house, they find their host dead, but must pretend that he is alive so that they can still enjoy their weekend.With the two lads clowning around with Bernie's body, the scene is set for lots of very dark humour, but the woeful script fails to do the premise justice, while the young leads are painfully unfunny, their slapstick routines utterly predictable and poorly executed. Director Ted Kotcheff wrings far too few laughs from Robert Klane's one-note script to make the film anything but an embarrassment for all involved.

Best movie probably ever of all time. Genius writing combined with top of the line acting creates an cinematic experience irresistible to the audience. The perfect blend of comedy and romance will have you clenching your gut laughing one second and then reaching for the tissues to wipe your tears the next. An all time classic, truly a masterpiece.

This movie has a weird effect on your perception of time. Everything happens 10 seconds after you already know it's going to happen - but then is not quite as funny as you imagined it.Apparently written/directed/edited by people who've never done comedy before, unless was simply a pacing problem due to lack of script - like a half hour episode that was padded out to be much longer. Every shot seems to have the pre- and post-roll frames kept in, like they didn't have any choice in editing due to a lack of material.The two leads are untrained, unseasoned and unbearable, and the writer doesn't seem to have been allowed time to finish or given a script editor. Style doesn't even redeem itself for its age, as there are plenty of contemporaneous black comedies/dumb comedies from its period that are paced and have enough jokes to fill a movie - you know, comedy movies written by experienced comedy writers, performed by skilled comedy players - those guys you have to pay fees to.A quick note on the baffling following this movie has - what's intolerable is not that some say they enjoyed it (each to their own, I've no problem with that), it's the hyperbole people use, praising it to the extent they give the impression they believe the memorability of the film was deliberate, as if the movie makers might count themselves amongst those who find the movie funny. Seriously, this movie paid mortgages, guys, it didn't make people proud (or laugh). The 2 leads barely worked again, and neither did the writer. Why? Because they suck. Obviously. Get a grip!Bottom line - were you stoned (or 10) when you watched this? Then try watching it again - especially before coming here and telling people it's good.I've laughed more at a funeral. Seriously. I'd tell a court that under oath.

Larry (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard (Jonathan Silverman) discover a scam and report it to their boss Bernie (Terry Kiser), who invites them to his beach house for the weekend as a reward. Bernie actually plans to have them killed (he is the one who is doing the scamming), but when he dies at the start of the weekend, chancer Larry persuades worrier Richard that, with a little bit of effort, the whole weekend remains to be enjoyed - no-one has to know Bernie died just yet, right? Especially if he gets seen out and about...This daft comedy is lifted out of the ordinary by one thing, and that is Terry Kiser's extraordinary performance as Bernie. Not while he's alive, mind you, but after he's dead. Kiser's remarkably physical performance as Bernie's corpse is extremely funny and raises this film to the level of minor classic.