Weekend at Bernie's

by Rizzy

I'm guessing most of you have probably seen this movie before, but if you haven't then you should go rent it immediately.  And if you have, then go rent it too, cause it's a classic. No, no, no go BUY it. I know what you're thinking (especially if you haven't seen it in awhile) Really? A movie about 2 guys who try to pass of a corpse as being still alive? Seriously? You think this is own worthy? I'll tell you my answer. Yes, yes I do. Without a doubt.

Here are our heros, laddies and gents: Richard Parker, who's a bit too naive for the business world, and Larry Wilson, who's a bit too laid back for it.  They are played by Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy respectively. This movie does a great job off the bat of making you care about both of these young men just scraping by in the business world. Larry may suck up and try to take credit for Richard's work, but he cares about Richard as a friend and Richard may seem annoyed at Larry's lack of work effort, but the two work well as a pair. They care about each other and seem to understand how their strengths and weaknesses work well together and don't seem to want to move up the corporate ladder without the other. That in and of itself gets props in my book.

Enter Gwen Saunders (played by Catherine Mary Stewart), who is the love interest of our straight man Parker who's none too good with the laddies if you catch my drift. She's pretty enough, with a sweet smile and seems to be genuine which makes her perfect for our hard working friend and he gets that. So much so that he's willing to... bend his morals in order to stand a chance with her. If Parker were Superman, we've found his kryptonite. And Larry gets that and isn't afraid to use her to catch a bit of a break as well. In fact, they use her character so well as a catalyst for some seriously awesome mayhem that you completely forgive her for putting such a sappy story line into a film about a corpse partying it up. It actually brings heart to the film.

Now, onto Bernie.  Terry Kiser does such a good job of looking dead and completely alive at the same time. Seriously, that's a lot harder than it sounds to look limp and lifeless and like you're not trying, while looking completely passable as alive! Watching people interact with him as a dead person is priceless. I'm not going to go so far as to say this film is a commentary on how little people pay attention to those around them, but damn it's hard to get sick of how this movie walks that fine line of the believable and unbelievable with style, cheese and gusto rarely achieved in most slap stick comedies.

Another thing I'll give this movie a lot of credit for, is making you really not like Bernie before he dies, so that you're not really offended by anything that happens to him. He was scum and so it's easy to watch them completely disrespect his corpse. The setups that happen early in the movie maybe a bit obvious, but the action that becomes of them makes them still worthwhile and enjoyable.

In the end though, this movie is so enjoyable because it plays off of classic straight man/comic man humor. Richard is overly cautious, serious, and honest. Larry is full of laughs and just looking for a good time.  Larry is convinced he knows what's best for them both and so constantly finds ways to talk Richard further and further into trouble. Watching them play off each other is really the heart of the movie, Bernie's corpse is just a bonus.

So go out, buy it or at the very least rent it and watch it with an open heart and warm memories of the idealism of slackers in the late 80s and early 90s, cause that's what this movie is all about.