Valley Girl (1983)

I’ve been meaning to write a review about Valley Girl for sometime now, but it’s always eluded me as to how to approach this movie.  On the surface it is a silly teen comedy, but there are a lot of interesting things going on.  It’s a movie that is not only about cultural differences but generational ones as well.  Valley Girl was originally conceived as being a cheap exploitation movie designed to make quick buck at the box office; the fact that it turned out to be a genuinely good movie was just icing on the cake.  In many ways, Valley Girl is a pre-cursor to the John Hughes comedies of the 80s; the romance between the two leads (Julie and Randy) is threatened by Julie’s social status – her best friends don’t approve of Randy and want her to get back together with Tommy, the high school hunk.  Julie is from the Valley (the suburbs), Randy is from the city (Hollywood) and her friends view him as a threat; he is a total outsider and doesn’t belong in their clique. (At my high school, dating a person from another high school was practically an act of treason).  Julie and her friends spend their free time at the mall and going to cliquey parties, while Randy’s idea of idea of a good time is cruising the streets and hanging out at a night club.  Julie is a total preppy, Randy is a punk rocker.  The movie is a modern day Romeo and Juliet (there’s even an embarrassing, none too subtle, shot of the two them exiting a theatre showing Romeo and Juliet. Just in case you missed the analogy). 

 I usually get annoyed when teen comedies contrive away to keep the lovers apart, but in Valley Girl, it feels natural to the story and is done in a believable way.  Julie loves spending time with Randy and wants to stay with him, but she also doesn’t want to alienate her best friends, so she throws away a shot a true love just so she can fit in with the crowd. 

Valley Girl is not without its share of flaws. Though, they are more awkward than they are fatal.  The most obvious is the rather superfluous subplot involving Suzi’s stepmother, Beth, and Suzi’s potential boyfriend, Skip.  Beth sees Skips at the party and views him as a sexual conquest, despite him being significantly younger.  Beth has essentially turned into a Mrs. Robinson-type character; something she probably would not have foreseen in her youth (especially considering Mrs. Robinson was a symbol of the older, sexually repressed generation).  Basically, Skip is torn between pursing a relationship with Suzi or, having a one night stand with her, extremely attractive, stepmother.  This subplot does fit into the generational gap theme that is prevalent throughout the movie; Beth would have been a teenager during the sexual revolution and is, not surprisingly, far more sexually aggressive than the horny Skip.  It also serves as a homage to The Graduate; a movie that was popular among the baby boomers.  It was the movie that “defined the generation.”  I have two problems with this subplot. The first problem is a personal one – I’m not a big fan of The Graduate.  Hence, the scenes between Beth and Skip come off as fairly contrived and awkward to me.  I GET IT! You want to pay homage to an iconic movie, but these scenes could easily have been trimmed from the movie. The second problem I have is that the stakes are pretty low – I really don’t care which of the two women Skip chooses, largely because he is such a dim character.  It also doesn’t help that out of Julie’s three friends, Suzi is probably the least interesting.  

 

I think the movie would have benefitted by having more scenes of Julie’s friends pressuring her into breaking up with Randy.  We get a short scene of the girls having a sleepover and each of Julie’s friends make a few pointed jabs at Randy, but that’s about it.  The next thing you know Julie is contemplating whether or not she should break up with Randy. There could have been an additional scene of her classmates at school giving her a few dirty looks or, maybe have a scene where her friends give her the silent treatment.  I also would have liked a scene at the end where Julie finally tells off her friends, instead of having Randy doing all the heavy lifting.  It is also odd that the subplot between Tommy and Loryn (Julie’s best friend) kind of fizzles out.  Tommy seduces Loryn at the party and, after she asks if they are a couple, he puts the guilt trip on her by saying how terrible she is for fooling around with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend. He essentially blackmails her into silence.  When Julie contemplates getting back together with Tommy, Loryn briefly expresses her doubts but then goes along with it. Then she is back to her perky self for the rest of the movie.  It is an odd p set up!  The seduction scene basically exists to show the audience what a terrible guy Tommy is (and show some topless female nudity), but it never comes back to bite Tommy in the ass.  These flaws would have destroyed a lesser movie but  Valley Girl is such a likable movie that easily overcomes them. 

What really sells Valley Girl is the amazing onscreen chemistry between its two leads, Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman.  Martha Coolidge states in her commentary that Cage and Foreman became romantically involved during production, so that explains why their onscreen romance is so believable.  It also helps that Coolidge knows how to stage a love scene. For instance, in their early scenes together Julie and Randy almost always maintain eye contact.  They are absolutely entranced by each other’s presence; the world around them disappears.  Also, Coolidge is able to convey a sense of intimacy by shooting their dialogue scenes in close up (with the actors’ eye lines looking in the right direction). These are very simple tricks but they are incredibly effective.  

Nicolas Cage is has become famous for his often over the top performances (which, depending on the movie can either be entertaining or embarrassing) but I really do like him in this movie.  His eccentricities suit the character of Randy well; I especially like the little dance he does after saying good night to Julie.  The interesting thing about Cage is that he isn’t your typical Hollywood leading man (especially in this movie) he has a rather long face, is a bit lanky, and (in this movie) has slightly crooked teeth, but his screen presence is undeniable.   The appeal of Nicolas Cage is his unpredictability. You never know what you are going to get with him.  Whether you like him or not he is truly one of a kind. 

Randy is also truly one of a kind, because like Cage, he just goes for broke.  He is absolutely determined to win Julie over, even if it means another potential ass kicking at the hands of Tommy. The movie does a nice job of setting up his character when, after he has been kicked out of a party, Randy sneaks into the house through the second story bathroom window and patiently waits in the shower for Julie to make an appearance.  What if Julie didn’t walk into the bathroom, then what would have Randy done?  After Julie finally makes her long overdue appearance, Randy reveals himself to her and invites her for a night out on the town.  She is charmed by his determination and accepts (on the provision that she can bring her friend, Stacey, with her).  This brief moment tells us a lot about these two characters: Randy will do anything to be Julie and won’t allow anyone to stand in his way. Julie is a bit more conservative in her worldview; the prospect of “shaking things up” does excite her but she doesn’t want to stray too far from her comfort zone.  The fact that going into “the city” is the most rebellious act she has ever committed indicates she has lived a sheltered life (despite having radicals as parents).  

Deborah Foreman never crossed over into mainstream success (her filmography consists of largely low budget movies), and retired from acting at a fairly young age, but she is absolutely radiant in the role of Julie.  She just seems to glow whenever she is onscreen (I attribute this largely to her wonderful smile). Julie is an interesting character: She has become so good at playing the role of this ditzy, materialistic teenager that it has become a comfort zone. It is something she can always fall back on and, most refreshing of all, it requires little effort on her part.   In the first scene, she breaks up with Tommy with relative ease like he is the equivalent to an old pair of shoes.  In her worldview, a boyfriend is merely an accessory.  Tommy is something she can brag to her friends about and makes her feel good when she goes out; but like accessories he eventually becomes tiresome.  Julie complains that their relationship is no longer fun, but rather than work through the problem she would rather get a new boyfriend.  The movie lets Julie off the hook by making Tommy a first rate douche bag, but her attitude in the opening scene is a bit appalling; she bumps into Tommy at mall and publicly breaks up with him without a tiny bit of remorse. She is already making plans to move onto the next high school hunk, Brad.  Her friends are a bit puzzled by her decision (as Tommy is such a hunk) but they accept it and even enable Julie’s behavior…..UNTIL SHE STARTS DATING RANDY!  It is a credit to Foreman that, despite all I mentioned, Julie is a rather endearing character.  

 

At first, Julie’s main reason for dating Randy is simply that he is the complete opposite of Tommy.  Randy is completely different from any guy she has ever met.  Yet, as the night goes on it becomes obvious that they have formed a pretty tight bond.  The only obstacle that really stands in Julie’s way is her disapproving friends, who peer pressure her into breaking up with Randy.  When they are having a sleepover, her friends use this opportunity to take all sorts of pot shots at Randy.  They also guilt trip Julie over the fact that she has been spending less time with them.   Julie eventually gives into the pressure and calls it off with Randy, and gets back together with Tommy.  It is a terrible decision on her part, but an understandable one (she is a teenager, after all).  What I really love about Deborah Foreman’s performance is her ability to listen. This may seem like an odd compliment but too often actors are so focused on memorizing their cues that they fail to react to the person that is speaking.  This is a staple of many bad movies; the lead actor will be saying his lines and the people around him look like they’re about to fall asleep.  Or, it looks like they are trying to remember whether or not they closed the garage door.  With Deborah Foreman, it is her reactions, more so than the dialogue, which says everything you need to know.  On their first date at the club, they speak a lot of gibberish (Randy makes fun of the music Julie likes and other trivial stuff) but they just can’t take their eyes off each other.  There’s also a great attention to detail in this scene: the two of them have to shout over the loud music just to be heard.  If you have ever been to a night club, you can easily relate to this moment.  

If Julie is attracted to Randy because he is different, then the reason Randy is attracted to Julie is that she represents normalcy to him.  Randy may openly scoff at Julie for being part of the status quo, but there is also a sense that he secretly envies her.  Julie comes from a fairly tight knit family; her parents maybe unusual but they also genuinely care about her.  On the other hand, Randy’s parents are nonexistent.  The movie never shows Randy’s parents but given that he spends most of nights at a club (he’s on a first name basis with the bouncer) it can be deduced that he comes from a broken home. His parents are either divorced, or (even worse) fairly indifferent towards him.  The fact that he always picks Julie up at her home, and never invites her over to his house, speaks volumes on his feelings towards his parents.  It is a neat touch that, the day after their memorable first date, Randy shows up the health food store owned by Julie’s parents and is extremely cordial to her father.  This is a far cry from most movie rebels who avoid their girlfriend’s parents like the plague.  Julie is a bit embarrassed by her parents’ business but Randy is pretty okay with it. It also helps that Julie’s father, who was a rebel in his youth, is fairly accepting of Randy.  If he has any reservations about his daughter dating a punk rocker, it certainly doesn’t show.  

The irony is that while Julie’s friends find Randy to be “too edgy” for their taste, he is more than willing to compromise his beliefs just so he can be with Julie.  There is a rather nice moment (in the middle of montage) where we see Julie and Randy hanging out in the food court of a mall. It is pretty apparent, just by Randy’s body language, that he is absolutely embarrassed to be there –he  even puts sunglasses on to hide his face.  Julie teases him for a little bit and, finally, he begins to lighten up. Maybe the mall isn’t so bad, after all? Randy is a punk rocker and against the status quo, there’s no way he would ever be caught dead in a mall……..but Julie coaxes him into it.  

The other theme of Valley Girl is the generational gap between Julie and her parents.  Julie’s parents were part of the 1960s counterculture and have still maintained their radical edge; despite living in the suburbs.  They have opened up a health food store and live a fairly easy going existence.   Julie is representative of the very values they rejected: she is materialistic, a bit superficial, and ruled by the majority.  Julie’s way of rebelling against her parents is by not rebelling.  They are also baffled by having to raise a teenage daughter; they give her free reign to do what she wants but her father, Steven, has a near heart attack after she has spent all night out with Randy. When she comes home early in the morning, her father’s first inclination is to yell at her (like any normal father would).  However, he doesn’t want to come off as too authoritarian (Julie is supposed to grow into her own person, after all) and midway through his speech goes from being an angry father to an understanding father.  Julie is confused by all this and asks, “Why can’t you just punish me like Stacy’s parents?”  Her mother replies, “Bad karma, dear!” 

When Julies goes to her junior prom, it is Steven who is a complete nervous wreck and holding up the show. His nerves are so shot that he sneaks into the bathroom and puffs on a joint just to calm himself.  When he is taking Julie and Tommy’s photo, he leaves the cap on the lens.  In odd way, the Richman’s are living vicariously through their daughter; neither of them went to their prom. They were too busy taking part in demonstrations and didn’t really have time of the stuff. The nice thing about Julie’s parents is that, even though they are different wavelength than their daughter, they are completely supportive of her.  A lesser script would have them berating their daughter for going to the mall (supporting the system) or hoping to politicize their daughter. Instead they just want her to be a normal teenager – even if they are baffled by her life choices. 

This leads me to my favorite performance in the movie – Frederic Forrest as Steve Richman, Julie’s hippie father.  Forrest is one of the most underrated actors of all time. He has appeared in some truly great movies (The Conversation, Apocalypse Now) and has a memorable as white supremacist in Falling Down, but Steve Richman is easily one of his best performances.  Forrest manages to breathe a lot of humanity into what could have easily been a one dimensional character.  In fact, when we first meet Mr. Richman, we mistakenly believe that he is just your stereotypical spaced out hippie; he wears sandals to work, reminisces about the 1960s, and Julie is slightly embarrassed to be seen in public with him. However, he is also a pretty good father.  The scene between Julie and her father is one of the highlights of Valley Girl, for multiple reasons.  The dynamic between Frederic Forrest and Deborah Foreman is terrific; they make for a believable onscreen father and daughter.  While Julie is slightly embarrassed by her parents, it is also clear that she has genuine affection for them. I find it interesting that Julie has more tight knit relationship with her father than she does with her mother.  This is probably because her mother is too laid back (Colleen Camp is funny, but her character is a bit cartoonish at times); when Julie is late getting home, her mother is doing exercises while Steven smokes a cigarette and anxiously paces back and forth.  We get a sense of that father/daughter bond when Steven shows Julie a picture of himself from his younger, long haired days and she, naturally, finds the photo hilarious. Having looked through my parents’ photo albums, I can relate to Julie’s reaction.  

 
Most important of all, Steve actually listens to his daughter’s problems and does the best he can to help.  In most teen comedies the father is usually oblivious to the plight of their children.  In movies like Some Kind of Wonderful and She’s All That, the father is a total hard ass that keeps riding his son to apply to a college; it never occurs to them that their son wants something else.  In other comedies, the father is a bit absent minded that it never occurs to the main character to ask them for any advice.  Steve Richman is kind of absent minded but he isn’t a moron. He soaks in everything Julie is telling him and then offers up some fairly good advice.  He doesn’t tell her what to do but tries to guide her in the right direction. Unfortunately, she discards his advice and goes with the mob rule.  

I find it interesting that it is Randy’s best friend, Fred, who sets the whole plot in motion. Fred is standing behind Loryn and is eavesdropping on a conversation she is having with a friend.  He not only hears about the party at Suzi’s house but gets the address as well. He just happens to be at the right place at the right time.  Randy is reluctant to go to the Valley at first but Fred is able to talk him into it.  Thus our story of star crossed lovers begins.  I don’t know whether or not if this was intentional, but Fred acts as a counterpart to Steven.  They are both genuine individuals who really don’t give a damn what people think about them; Fred constantly strikes out with women at the party but he keeps on trying. He’s not going to allow a few rejections to dampen his spirits.  Fred is probably the closest thing Randy has to a family and is there in his friend’s hour of need. It is Fred who saves Randy from his self destructive path.  After Julie breaks up with him, Randy doesn’t take it well and gives into pure excess – he goes on a drunken bender, hooks up with his ex-girlfriend in the woman’s bathroom of a bar, and then tries to pick a fight with a low rider. Fred’s timely intervention saves Randy from a sure ass kicking.  When Randy goes on a self pity rant, Fred doesn’t coddle him; instead he encourages Randy to win Julie back.  If Randy genuinely loves this girl, then he should fight for her love.  Fred is a stark contrast to Julie’s friends; the idea of Julie dating outsider terrifies them, because they are worried about how it will effect her (and by extension their) popularity. They genuinely believe they are doing Julie a favor by pressuring her into breaking up with Randy.  Fred, on the other hand, could care less about the popular opinion and wants his friend to be happy.  He will go to the ends of the Earth for Randy.  He maybe an oddball, but he is an ideal best friend.  

The character of Stacey is the direct counterpoint to Fred.  Stacey is, understandably, a bit miffed when Julie drags her along for a night out with two punk rockers.  To make matters worse, she is paired the eccentric Fred on this double date. Stacey spends most of the car ride complaining – when Randy notes that he likes the song playing on the radio, Stacey shouts back, “I hate this song.”  Yet, as the night progresses, Stacey takes a liking to Fred.  When he chases her around the car, she puts on an “annoyed act” but she eventually can’t hold back her laughter. She is having a good time with a punk rocker. Unfortunately, once Stacey returns to the “safety” of the suburbs, she immediately wants to forget about him. Sure, she enjoyed Fred’s company but she could never actually date a guy like him.  What would they stay at school? Even more disheartening is that, despite having hung out with Randy, it is Stacey who is most adamant that Julie break up with Randy and get back together with Tommy.  She desperately wants things to back to normal.   The movie, to its credit, never fully vilifies Julie’s friends. There is no malice in their actions, they are simply misguided.  

Valley Girl is probably known for two things: 1) It was the movie that put Nicolas Cage on the map. After this movie he would explode into super stardom. 2) Its soundtrack. The Valley Girl soundtrack is a sample of the type of music that was popular at this specific moment in time. Probably the best known song on the soundtrack is Modern English's "I'll Melt With You." It's a song that has remained popular some thirty five years later. There is also a track that would never make it any modern day soundtrack - Josie Cotton's "Johnny, Are You Queer?" It's a silly song, but if the age of social media has taught us anything - EVERYTHING IS OFFENSIVE!  Martha Coolidge will often use the soundtrack to compliment the action that is occurring onscreen; when Randy and Julie are talking in the bathroom the Psychedelic Fur's song, "Love My Way" can be heard in the background. The Plimsoul's song "A Million Miles Away" is essentially Randy and Julie's love song. The band plays it when Randy and Julie are bonding at the club. The song is reprised later after Randy, coming off rebound sex with his ex, hears it again and immediately thinks of Julie. This sends further into a downward spiral before Fred intervenes. The soundtrack itself is worth seeking out.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Martha Coolidge’s first rate direction. It is actually pretty incredible that she was able to make such a top notch picture on so little of a budget ($350,000). She is especially good when it comes blocking a scene and camera placement.  In the scene where Julie agrees to take Tommy back, she is able to convey what a suffocating presence Tommy is without a single word of dialogue. Tommy sits down next to Julie in the booth and, after she has agreed to take him back, he immediately puts his left on around her shoulder, and then he leans forwards (eclipsing Julie in the process) and starts eating the food off of her basket. 

Coolidge then cuts to a high angle shot with the camera looking down at Julie; it is nice way of showing how Julie has demeaned herself in our, and her, eyes.  She was in a meaningful relationship with Randy and now has reduced herself to being Tommy’s possession. There's also some nice acting from Deborah Foreman in this scene - while she gives Tommy a smile, there is a sense that Julie is about to break down in tears. Forget Citizen Kane!  Valley Girl should be endlessly studied by film students. 

Cast: Nicolas Cage (Randy), Deborah Foreman (Julie Richman), Elizabeth Daily (Loryn), Michael Bowen (Tommy), Cameron Dye (Fred Bailey), Heidi Holicker (Stacey), Frederic Forrest (Steve Richman), Colleen Camp (Sarah Richman), Michelle Meyrink (Suzi Brent), Lee Purcell (Beth Brent), David Ensor (Skip), Tina Theberge (Samantha), Josie Cotton (Singer at Prom), Richard Sanders (Driver’s Ed Teacher), Joyce Hyser (Joyce), The Plimsouls.

Director: Martha Coolidge
Screenplay: Wayne Crawford, Andrew Lane.
Running Time:  99 min.

Better Off Dead(1985)

1985 was a pivotal year in the teen comedy cycle; it took the teen comedy to whole new levels that ranged from the supernatural (Teen Wolf, The Heavenly Kid, Once Bitten) to commentary about gender relations (Just One of the Guys), and commentary about the high school social structure (The Breakfast Club). And there was Better Off Dead, which almost belongs in a category of its own. Better Off Dead’s basic storyline isn’t anything original, in fact, it is pretty formulaic to the teen comedies of that time; all the tropes are there:

Lane –  The average male protagonists, who lacks confidence and obsesses over a pretty blonde (in this case his ex-girlfriend). He spends the majority of the film either obsessing on how to get Beth back, or attempting suicide and failing every time.

Beth -  Lane’s pretty ex-girlfriend, who (as the genre dictates) is a flakey blonde who left Lane for the more popular Roy Stalin.

Roy Stalin – Beth’s current boyfriend and Lane’s main antagonist. He is captain of the ski team and makes it his goal to humiliate Lane.  He is also a local hero, because he is only person to have ever skied the K-12 from the glacier and lived to tell about it.

Charles - Lane’s oddball sidekick, who constantly laments over the fact that he can’t score real drugs. He has been going to Glendale high school for seven and a half years.

Monique -  The pretty brunette (and French Foreign Exchange Student) that lives across the road from Lane. She is staying with the Smiths, who are completely insane.

Again, there’s absolutely nothing original nor innovative about the characters and storylines; in fact, one of the man criticisms regarding Better Off Dead is it’s conventional storyline. In his Movie and Video Guide, Leonard Maltin writes:

            Frustrating film starts off with funny original gags……then it settles into much too conventional story and goes down the drain.

Maltin is essentially correct (except for the whole “goes down the drain part), Better Off Dead ends on a rather, typical teen comedy note. The unremarkable boy and the pretty girl next door are united at the end, the villain gets his just desserts, and the pretty blonde gets kicked to the curb.

However, what most critics miss about Better Off Dead is that its narrative serves as framework for director Savage Steve Holland to hang  his many jokes and gags on; the story is secondary and takes a back seat to the comedy. Throughout the course of the movie Holland will interrupt that narrative just so he can spring one a nonsensical joke at the audience.

1.      There’s the recurring gag of paper boy Johnny and his constant harassment of Lane to get his TWO DOLLARS. This real has no overall function to the narrative and, in fact, Holland probably could have easily removed all of Johnny’s scenes and basically have the same movie. 

2.      Throughout the course of the film, various males (Lane’s geometry teacher, the mailman, and Barney Rubble) ask Lane if it’s okay if they ask out Beth.

3.      There’s the many disgusting food concoctions thought up by Lane’s well meaning, but air headed mom. The most memorable one is a green, slimy blob that crawls off Lane’s plate that his mom made solely because it has raisins and Lane likes raisins.

4.      The many misadventures of Lane’s younger brother Badger, who often cuts coupons off of cereal boxes for the prizes. During the course of the film, he:

a)      Builds a laser gun

b)      Read’s a guide on how to pick up trashy women and then has a New Year’s party with the women he has picked up.

c)      Builds a spaceship which launches during the film’s end credits.

5.      Lane is constantly challenged to drag race by the Ree brothers, one (the driver) of whom speaks no English and other learned to speak English by watching the Wide World of Sports. They have speakers mounted to the top of their car and the English speaking brother taunts Lane in a Howard Cosell-like voice. 

6.      Then there’s a funny bit, in which Lane is driving in his car and hears the song, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” playing on the radio, not wanting to be reminded of Beth, he turns to another station, which is also a playing a song about breaking up, then he turns to another and gets the same result. Finally, out of frustration, he throws his car stereo out the window.

7.      And then there’s a short, claymation sequence that revolves around an anthropomorphized hamburger lip syncing to the Van Halen classic “Everybody Wants Some.”

This was a common tactic used by comedians in the silent era; make a list of gags and then develop a narrative to build that gags around. In Better Off Dead the gags take a precedent over the story, it really isn’t until the last half hour that the REAL story kicks in: Lane bonds with Monique and with her help finds confidence in himself that he’s able to beat Stalin in a ski race.  This narrative would usually slowly develop throughout the course of the film, but in Better Off Dead it’s condensed into the final act of the movie. Interestingly, Monique and Lane don’t actually meet one another until the film is halfway over and even then their meeting gets interrupted by random comedy bits.

Monique’s screen time in the first half is fairly limited, she will occasionally pop up to remind the audience that she’s there, but she’s almost a nonfactor. The major advantage to this is that it answers the question, “Why is Lane so obsessed with Beth, when a better looking brunette is waiting in the wings?” This tends to be the most irritating aspect of most teen comedies; the main character obsesses over a popular blonde and is oblivious to the fact that much nicer and better looking woman is standing right next to him the entire time. In Better Off Dead, Lane doesn’t notice Monique, because he hasn’t meet her yet. And once he gets to know her, it isn’t long before he is smitten with her.  Surprisingly, despite being condensed, the relationship between Lane and Monique is absolutely believable, this is large due to the wonderful chemistry between John Cusack and Diane Franklin; the interaction between these two actors makes it easy to believe that these characters would fall for one another. 

Furthermore, Holland establishes from the get go that the two are kindred spirits, they both find themselves victims of circumstance:  Lane’s girlfriend has left him to be with his most hated rival and Monique is doing her best to keep her sanity while living with the ultra nerdy Ricky and his deranged mother, Mrs. Smith. In one of the film’s funniest moments, Monique is having Christmas with the Smiths and Ricky’s mom asks, “Do you have Christmas in France? You know….CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!” 

She then grabs Monique’s lips and makes her enunciate the word Christmas. Ricky (after being spurred by his mom) then gives Monique a present, which is a framed picture of him making a rather idiotic face.

Monique is absolutely stunned. Later, she walks outside and bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

The main reason the relationship between Monique and Lane is believable is that is the first person (in fact the only person) in the film that is capable of having a normal conversation with Monique. In the school cafeteria, he confides in her about his mom’s terrible cooking and how anything, including cafeteria food, tastes good in comparison. The other characters really don’t regard her as a person: Roy views her as his next conquest and speaks to her in French, in an attempt to seduce her. Monique responds by shaking up a can of soda, opening  the tab and spraying it all over him.  Mrs. Smith treats Monique like a misbehaved child and often talks down to her, while Ricky doesn’t speak to her at all, but keeps her at arm’s length whenever they are seen together. Later on, when Monique is venting by throwing apples at a speed limit sign, she confides in Lane that she can speak English (up until this point the audience is lead to believe she can only speak French) and that the reason she pretended she couldn’t was, “If you lived with a family like that, the less you spoke the happier you would be.”

I disagree with Leonard Maltin’s claim that the movie “goes down the drain” once it reaches its climax; if the audience didn’t care about the plight of Lane then maybe he would have a point, but the greatest strength of Better Off Dead is that it builds sympathy for Lane right from the beginning. There are probably a lot of men out there who can relate to Lane’s frustration of seeing the woman of his dreams date a guy who is a complete douchebag. It is the ultimate kick to the groin. I certainly can relate, as I witnessed it first hand, granted she wasn’t the girl of my dreams, but she was extremely cute and her boyfriend…well the less I say about him the better. Not only is Roy Stalin a douchebag, but he is the ULIMATE TEEN DOUCHEBAG. Roy’s antagonism towards Lane is never really justified, most teen comedies at least try to give the bully a motivation for tormenting the hero, but Roy is an asshole just for the hell of it. He calls Lane, “Oscar Meyer” and often makes jokes at Lane’s expense, like suggesting that Lane try out for the girl’s water ballet team. The most frustrating aspect is that not only is Roy an asshole, but he’s practically better than Lane at everything, hell the guy is a local hero as he is the only person to successfully have skied the K12. Charles, Lane’s best friend, even says that Lane is a great skier, but Roy is incredible.
And if that wasn’t enough, the film stacks even more miseries on poor Lane:

1) He is harassed almost nonstop by paperboy Johnny, who often pops up in the most unlikely of places, like the roof of Lane’s car.
2) He is constantly been challenged to race by the Ree brothers.
3) His dad keeps lecturing him on how needs to shape up his act. At one point he sets Lane up on date with his law firm partner’s daughter, who has a huge set of braces on her face and doesn’t even go out with him, but rather calculates what the total cost of their date would have been and has Lane pay her half the bill. His dad also gets him a job at Char Burger, which is owned by the guy whose truck Lane has run into twice.
4) At one point, Lane tries to ask out cheerleader Chris Cremmens, who dates the basketball team. “Not just certain members of the team, but the entire team. “ He notices she wears roller skates, so he borrows a pair of skates from some random teenager, puts them on and hopes it will get her intention. She calls him a jerk and when he tries to clarify he trips on his skates, grabs hold of Chris’ cheerleader uniform and accidentally rips it off, leaving her exposed in her bra and panties. The basketball team gangs up on Lane and gives him a sound beating.

5) He attempts to ski the K12 on multiple occasions, but loses his balance each time and tumbles down a long, painful distance.

With all this nonstop misery, it’s no wonder Lane is suicidal for the first hour of the film. He attempts suicide four times in film; twice talking himself out of it and the other two times fate intervenes. In one case, Charles sees Lane about to jump off a bridge, reassures him that everything will be alright, and pats Lane on the back, which sends him flying into the back of a garbage truck. The other time Lane is about to set himself ablaze but is interrupted by a surprise dinner for the Smiths and Monique.

However, the frustration keeps building and finally Lane takes it out on Roy, challenging him to a ski race atop of the K12.

The race atop of K12 and the montage building up to it are the weakest parts of Better Off Dead. Throughout the course of the film Lane has been completely inept when it comes to skiing the K12, but through the magic of a movie montage, Lane goes from falling on his ass to being a world class skier, to the point that he’s capable of doing all sorts of hard tricks, like skiing through Monique’s legs and skiing on one ski.  It’s more likely a case of director Holland shoehorning one of his hobbies into the film and trying to show the audience all the neat stuff that can be done while skiing, regardless as to whether or not it fits the tone of the film.
It’s also makes Monique comes off as being a bit too perfect for her own good; earlier in the film she helps Lane repair his broken down Cammaro and here she coaches him on how to ski the K12.  She does a run to show Lane how it’s done and he makes an attempt and once again falls on his ass. It comes completely out of left field, because nowhere in the earlier scenes is it established that Monique is a skier. Thankfully, this only eats up only about ten minutes of the film’s actually screen time, and it manages to regain its footing once the race is over and Lane has a duel with Ricky(with ski poles) for the fair hand of Monique.

The other enjoyable aspect of Better Off Dead is how it often takes conventional scenes from teen movies and turns them on their head.

1.      Beth’s break up with Lane.

We never see Beth break up with Lane, but rather it is handled in a voiceover as a shot of Lane driving in his car is shown on screen. Beth is pretty direct with her reasons for breaking up with Lane, “I think it would be in my best interest if I dated someone more popular, better looking, drives a nicer car.”

2.      The classroom scene.
Practically every teen comedy has a scene in which the characters sit around in the classroom and are absolutely bored by the lesson they are learning. In Better Off Dead, the class is completely enthralled by the geometry lesson they are being given by Mr. Kerber to the point that when the bell rings, they all depressed that is has come to an end. Mr. Kerber reassures them by saying, “No, no! I’ll see you all again tomorrow. Just remember to memorizes pages 39 to 110 for tomorrow’s lesson.” The class lets out a shout of joy and goes on their merry ways. Another funny bit is when Mr. Kerber asks for volunteers to show the results of their homework on the chalkboard; everyone (except Lane) raises their hands at once, shouting, “EW! PICK ME!”  When he picks a person, the rest of the class lets out a groan of disappointment.

3.      The school dance.
The teen genre dictates that there must be a scene at a school dance and Better Off Dead is no exception. The dance scene is a pivotal point, because it’s when Monique literally runs into Lane. This scene, however, is a lot of fun, mainly for all the comedy bits that are scatted throughout:

a)      Lane and Charles are sitting at a table looking dejected when Roy walks up to them and says, “You got my vote for cutest couple. You better shave her before you kiss her goodnight.” Charles breaks out into a fit of hysterical laughter to the point that his eyes begin to water. Later, Roy and Beth are dancing, when Charles interrupts them still laughing at Roy’s comment.

b)      Ricky shows up to the dance with Monique in tow. He gets on the floor and starts swinging Monique around in circles. A crowd gathers around the two, Ricky puts Monique down and, through the crowd’s urging, attempts to slide on the dance floor. He takes off his glasses, loosens his tie, and dives….knocking himself out in the process. Monique escapes during the confusion, while the crowd proceeds to dance over Ricky’s unconscious corpse.

c)      Monique sees Lane exiting the building, runs after him, and pushes him down to get his attention. She apologizes and proceeds to shake his hand over and over. At this point, she stills feigning that she can’t speak English. Ricky, having gained conscious, runs after Monique holding a balloon his right hand. He is shocked to see Lane and Monique together, let’s go of the balloon, and makes an ill fated attempt to grab it before it flies away.

4.      Lane’s challenge to Roy.

Roy and Monique are having lunch together, when Roy walks up and proceeds to harass Lane and Monique. He tries to seduce Monique by speaking French to her, but she dashes his hopes by shaking up a can of soda, opening the tab, and spraying it all over Roy, who then proceeds to insult Monique. This makes Lane furious and, in his anger, he challenges Roy to a ski race atop of the K12. As soon as the arrangements have been made, it is announced over the PA system that, “Lane Myer is racing Roy Stalin atop the K12 this Saturday.” All of Lane’s long oppressed classmates gather around him and pat him on the back.

5.      The K12 race.

The race is pretty conventional, with the exception that Johnny shows up and keeps chanting over and over, “I want my two dollars.” This freaks out Roy, who hits Johnny with his ski poll, which in turn sends Johnny barreling over a cliff. Has Johnny finally met his demise? Nope. A few seconds later the camera cuts to Johnny still alive and, even in his dazed state, demanding two dollars.

6.      Monique and Lane’s union.
Lane has one more challenge before he can claim victory and that is to save Monique for the clutches of the Smiths. After the race, the Smiths come to claim Monique; Lane comes running after them, grabs Monique and challenges Ricky to a duel….with ski poles. Lane loses his ski pole in the duel and Ricky goes charging in for the kill, but Lane steps out of the way, grabs Ricky’s pole and throws him into his mother. He then carries Monique off over his shoulder and has finally defeated his demons (well except Johnny).

It’s a real shame that director Savage Steve Holland wasn’t given more opportunities to direct movies (he made One Crazy Summer a year later and then went into television), because he has a wonderful sense of cinema about him. His direction is often very creative, which is amazing considering that this was his first film. Here’s just a few examples of Holland’s inventive direction:

1.      In a flashback, Lane and Charles are at a park playing catch with a football. Lane catches the football and notices Beth and her friend sitting at a picnic table. He waves at them and they start to laugh. At first we think they are laughing at his flirting, but then the camera tilts down to reveal Lane standing over a picnicking family and his feet are firmly implanted in their sandwiches. Lane then goes over to talk to Beth and notices her scratching her nose; he interprets it that she is sending a signal that something is on his nose, so he scratches his. She then interprets his scratching as him being too embarrassed to tell her that something is on her nose, so she scratches her nose again. This goes back on forth, until the scene ends with both of them blowing their noses with napkins, putting the conversation at a complete stand still.

2.      The dance scene begins with a close up of the singer (Elizabeth Daily), then the camera pulls back to reveal students dancing on the floor, and it pans over to the right to reveal Lane and Charles sitting at a table, both looking complete dejected. In a single shot, Holland perfectly establishes Lane’s relationship to the rest of the student body.

3.      When Mr. Kerber tells his students he would like to see the results of their homework, we are shown a shot of a kid printing up his homework on a printer, while another student has an entire binder filled with the assignment. The camera cuts to Lane, who pulls out a folded sheet of notebook paper from his back pocket, he unfolds it, finds a piece of gum stuck to it, and two underlined words written on the paper, “DO HOMEWORK!”

It is creative moments like this that separate Better Off Dead from all the other teen comedies that dominated the eighties. Those films, while funny, often tended to be a bit more realistic in their depiction of teen life, but Better Off Dead takes high school's most painful moments and exaggerates them to the Nth degree. It takes the pain and transforms it into pure comedy.

Cast: John Cusack (Lane Mye), David Ogden Stiers (Al Myer), Diane Franklin (Monique), Curtis Armstrong (Charles), Daniel Schneider (Ricky), Kim Darby (Jenna Myer), Laura Waterbury (Mrs. Smith), Amanda Wyss (Beth), Aaron Dozier (Roy Stalin), Elizabeth Daily (Herself), Vincent Schiavelli (Mr. Kerber), Damien Slade (Johnny), Scooter Stevens (Badger), Taylor Negron (Mailman).

Writer/Director: Savage Steven Holland.

Running Time: 98 minutes.