Barbatus of Benevento
Better Off Dead is a 1985 film about a teen learning how to move on after his long time girlfriend dumps him for the captain of the ski team. It is set in the 80's in the mythical state of Northern California.
Insanity doesn't run in the family, it gallops (taglines)
- Directed by Savage Steve Holland. Written by Savage Steve Holland
Lane Myer
- Joanne Greenwald... the girl with the antennae on her face?
- I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.
- She only speaks French, Roy. She doesn't speak imbecile.
- [why he can't pay the paper boy] Uh, my brother, this morning, got his arm caught in the microwave, and my grandmother, she dropped acid and freaked out and hijaked a schoolbus full of...penguins.
- I gotta go, the Christmas tree is on fire. [hangs up the phone.]
Charles de Mar
- I've been going to this high school for seven and a half years! I'm no dummy!
- This is pure snow. It's everywhere! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?
- Dying when you're not really sick is really sick, you know. Really!
- [giving skiing instructions] Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn.
Others
- Beth Truss: She dates the basketball team. Not certain members of the team, Lane, the whole team!
- Johnny Gasparini (paper boy): I want my two dollars! (repeated line)
- Monique Junot: I think all you need is a small taste of success, and you will find it suits you.
- Roy Stalin: [Upon seeing Lane] Oscar Meyer!
- Roy Stalin: Beth, you were standing with Oscar. Is he your main wiener man?
- Tree Trimmer: [After Lane falls into a dump truck off of a bridge] Man, that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that.
Dialogue
- Jenny Myer: How was your day?
- Lane Myer: Beth just dumped me.
- Jenny Myer: Oh, that's nice.
- Monique Junot: Instead he just uses it as an excuse to put his testicles all over me!
- Lane Myer: Sorry, what?
- Monique Junot: Uh, how you say... octopus... testicles.
- Lane Myer: No, tentacles. N-T. There's a big Difference.
Taglines
- Insanity doesn't run in the family, it gallops
- Teenage life has never been darker...or funnier...
Cast
- John Cusack - Lane Myer
- David Ogden Stiers - Al Meyer
- Kim Darby - Jenny Meyer
- Demian Slade - Johnny Gasparini
- Scooter Stevens - Badger Meyer
- Diane Franklin - Monique Junot
- Laura Waterbury - Mrs. Smith
- Daniel Schneider - Ricky Smith