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Weekend at Bernie's (1989)
22 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
very enjoyable semi-black comedy, 11 April 2002
Author: (billybrown41@hotmail.com) from Kimberling City, MO.
Maybe I'm just stupid, but I love this movie. I still remember when it came out and maybe it's just nostalgia because I watched it so many times when I was nine years old, but I still enjoy watching it. It does a pretty good job at catching the look and feel of the late 80s. All the hairstyles and clothing are pretty dated but to me, that's all part of the fun.
It all starts when our guys, Richard and Larry, discover a $2 million insurance fraud scam in their company. When they report it to their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser) he seems grateful and invites them to his beach house for labor day weekend. As it turns out, Bernie is the one doing the scamming and has hired a mob hitman to take them out. Little does Bernie know, that the mob has decided that Bernie has been a little too careless and they have decided to take him out instead. So, by the time Richard and Larry reach the island, they discover that Bernie is dead from what looks like a drug-overdose. Instead of calling the cops, the less than bright Larry, decides it better to pretend that he didn't die. This will work since all of the island partyers are pretty self-absorbed and clueless. This is where it starts getting funny.
Since the hitman is still on the island, he keeps seeing Bernie, who he thought he killed and keeps re-killing him. It's hilarious, because the boys really don't have a clue that the hitman is even around. Watching them lug a dead corpse around, making him look alive, is one of the highlights. The fact that all of the islanders believe he's alive is even funnier. One of my favorite parts of the movie was Andrew McCarthy's performance as Larry. His slacker part killed me and he has some really funny lines. What ever happened to him? Jonathan Silverman also does a great job with an underwritten part. He plays the ulcer-bound Richard who SO tries to be the moral center of the situation. Terry Kiser is incredible, as always and he plays a dead guy VERY well. Some of the stuff that he has to do, I really can't see anyone else pulling off as well. My favorite scenes came when Bernie was alive. The guy is such an unbelievable jerk, he's actually fun to hate.
Ignore the other comments on here, and go get this one. It's great for some laughs and I STILL get a lot out of it everytime I watch it. A great semi-black comedy. Go pick it up and look for the sequel. I enjoyed it as well, although not quite as much.
19 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Hilarious, 30 December 2001
Author: Rose-35 from Pennsylvania
This is one of the funniest films ever made. Sure, it's stupid, and it could never really happen, but it is hilarious. The 3 main actors are great, esp. Terry Kiser (Bernie). The boat scene is the best. Anyone with a sense of humor will love this movie.
15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Under rated comedy blast., 8 August 2000
Author: (actingeric@hotmail.com) from Gilbert, Arizona
Weekend at Bernies! Sure it is dumb. But the comedy is so smartly done that it makes it hilarious. I for one laugh my butt off every time I watch this movie. It is one of those movies that cheers you up if you are having a bad day. The duo of McCarthy and Silverman is almost flawless. They are wonderful to watch. Together they almost remind me of classic pairs like Laurel & Hardy or Abbot & Costello. If you just sit back and relax this movie can really tickle your funny bone. It even might make you `drop dead from laughing'. Oh.was that to corny.sorry. But honestly, this is a good film. Give it a try someday when you have nothing else to do or are having a party. (But beware just rent this one. The second one, although it has its moments, doesn't meet up to the original)
12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Die Laughing, 26 May 2002
Author: latinothunder7 (latinothunder7@aol.com) from Trumansburg, New York
This movie is great from start to finish. The characters are well developed and Andrew McCarthy(The Joy Luck Club) and Jonathan Silverman(The Single Guy) play wonderfully off of each other. The Dialogue was better then that of any modern made comedy I have seen. This is a dark comedy but for the family which is something I have never seen done before. This movie is unique and over the head of anyone who didn't like it.
9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Classic Tragedy of 1980s Materialism, 20 May 2004
Author: MegamanX-1 from Baltimore, Maryland (USA)
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Many will say Weekend at Bernie's is a comedy, but is it really? This review will contain SPOILERS, so discontinue reading if you do not wish to know the story.
The tragic anti-hero is Bernie, a man who seemingly has it all. He has a great NYC apartment, a house at the beach, a boat, a high-priced sports car, women falling at his feet, and a great toupee. He is the symbol of 1980s material success. Any of us would love to be in his position, right?
Perhaps not, for all great tragedies possess a fall from grace. Bernie is successful because of his involvement in the NYC organized crime underground. This combined with his lack of self-control in regards to the Don's girlfriend results in his untimely end.
The tragedy is this: in death, no one notices. Bernie's supposed "friends" continue to use his boat, party at his house, drink his booze, and yet no one realizes he is dead. The woman who indirectly caused his death defiles and molests his corpse without noticing. This is an insult not only to his person, but his sexual prowess as well. It would seem Bernie lacked any real emotional attachments. Instead, he plunged himself into the seedy world of 1980s materialism. It was this world that would not only cause his death, but would also insult his humanity through the implication that his life was irrelevant.
Indeed, Bernie became in death what he could not attain in life, a hero. While dead, Bernie's corpse protects two losers from meeting their own untimely ends at the hands of both the New York mafia and Neptune's realm. In death, Bernie was able to give pleasure to all those around him through his possessions and, in the case of his girlfriend, his body. However philanthropy and necrophilia aside, all of these redeeming acts are meaningless because when those around him find out that he is really dead, some do not believe while others express shock. However the shock is not from losing a dear friend, but from the realization that they were too absorbed in their material lifestyle to take notice of the recently departed.
The tale of Bernie is a tragic one. A man unloved in life and death, let his story guide you. For it is not the material success that brings one happiness and love, rather it is the depth of friendship.
9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A great "black humour" comedy, 4 September 2004
Author: knstam from Sydney
This is a great "black humour" comedy - I gave it 9 out of 10. Judging by the low rating most of the people here are giving it - they "can't handle the truth". Maybe that's because most of the people are constantly brained washed by Hollywood type comedies - sweet and romantic or alternatively rude and full of body parts /smells/sounds/etc. But wait - those comedies also have to "educate" us, always at the end of the movie, with a "deeper message" - the meaning of life, love, god, peace and happiness to all the world, blah, blah, blah... So for those of you that have to have a deeper meaning - did you noticed how many real friends, one that will noticed that he is dead, for instance, Bernie had? Maybe life in the fast lane is not as glamorous as it seems...
6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A film which contains humour that will never decompose... unlike Bernie!!, 22 May 2001
Author: Richard Campbell from Guildford, England
I first saw this film at about 2:00am one morning and knew that I had to have it. Okay, so it's a one joke movie, but hey it is still incredibly funny. It is a film that encapsulates the eighties and the two lead roles are perfect. The actor who played Bernie's corpse deserves an oscar as although he doesn't say a single word it honestly seems he is dead!! Classic moments include Bernie waterskiing and Bernie making love to his girlfriend (he is of course dead in both scenes.) A must for anyone who wants a good laugh.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The corpse is the "life" of the party!, 28 December 2003
Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada
Two young insurance company employees, Larry (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard (Jonathan Silverman) discover an instance of fraud and report it to their boss Bernie (Terry Kiser). Unfortunately for them, Bernie is the one behind the fraud, and he asks his mobster associate to take them out. Unfortunately for Bernie, the mobster sends his hit man to eliminate Bernie instead. Larry and Richard arrive at Bernie's gorgeous beach house for the weekend and, after discovering that Bernie is dead, manage to make it look like he is still alive so that they can enjoy the rest of the weekend.
An uncomplicated, very slightly plotted farce that is actually pretty fun if it hits you in the right frame of mind. The whole thing is extremely silly and yet extremely funny at times. McCarthy and Silverman are very lively, but Kiser completely steals the movie as the title corpse. I first noticed this amusing actor on a hilarious episode of 'Three's Company', and have remained amused by his performances ever since. However, I think that sad-eyed cult actor Don Calfa ("Chopper Chicks in Zombietown", "The Return of the Living Dead" is also worth mentioning, in a good comedy performance as the hit man who grows increasingly flustered in his attempts to kill Bernie once and for all. Catherine Mary Stewart is attractive and appealing enough as the girl Richard is interested in.
It also seems to be part satire: a commentary on self-absorbed rich jerks who are so into what they themselves are doing that they can't notice (or even sense) that Bernie is dead.
The movie's Canadian director, Ted Kotcheff, appears on screen as Richard's father.
All in all, a good comedy. I give it 7/10.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Uproariously funny black comedy., 28 June 2003
Author: manxman-1 from bahamas
Hilarious, totally off the wall black comedy about two buddies (Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman) whose boss, Bernie, has been bumped off by gangsters but whose death goes unrecognized the entire weekend by his self-centered beach friends. Utterly tasteless, goofy, ridiculous, wonderfully funny movie with loads of quirky characters. Andrew McCarthy at his most charmingly loopy and Jonathan Silverman terrific as his straight arrow buddy. Great turn by Terry Kiser as Bernie, who will not go away or play dead. Ridiculous situations that are just plain fun to watch. A movie to remember with delight and to enjoy at a repeat viewing.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Funny Film With a Really Great Idea, 1 August 2000
Author: tfrizzell from United States
"Weekend at Bernie's" is a hilarious film about two losers (Jonathan Silverman and Andrew McCarthy) who stumble onto a plan by some unknown person in their company to steal from the corporation. They tell the boss, Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), and it turns out that he is the culprit. Now he wants the two of them killed, but his wandering eyes make him the target of the assassin. Bernie invites the two losers out to his beach-house in the hopes of them being eliminated. However, he is killed instead and when Silverman and McCarthy discover his body they pretend like he is still alive so they can get the great weekend that their late boss promised them. A truly original idea carries this film which is sick in one sense, but amazingly funny in another. Silverman and McCarthy make a surprisingly effective comedy team. However it is Terry Kiser, in one of the most under-rated roles ever seen during the history of the cinema, that makes the film work as well as it can. His uncanny ability to play a stiff corpse for nearly the whole film is truly revolutionary. If there was ever a performance that was overlooked by the Academy, it may be Kiser's role here (do not laugh). Overall the film over-achieves and is well-worth watching at least once. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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