Weekend at Bernie's

Terry Kiser should have been nominated for an Oscar in this role, but sadly the Academy is somewhat conversative in these matters.

Andrew McCarthy has gone on to be a top-rate travel writer, but he left an indelible legacy with his role in this 80s movie that is still a pop culture reference to this day.

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)

This movie is best viewed in the summer when it's in the high 90s and the air conditioner is on full blast-all the water,sand and surf you need is right here. It's a carefree,breezy film,completely absorbed in its one intention-to make you laugh.

Using the word "classic" for this movie may be stretching things a little, but the fact that everybody I know has seen this movie -- and enjoyed it to some extent, is saying something. The concept is ridiculous. Larry (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard (Jonathan Silverman) are invited to their boss, Bernie Lomax's (Terry Kiser), house for the weekend. Bernie winds up getting killed before they get there. The rest of the movie involves the hijinks that occur when Richard and Larry decide to pretend Bernie is still alive so they can enjoy their weekend in paradise. Much of the gags include Bernie's lifeless body being dragged about and posed. What's surprising is that much of the gags actually work. It's a one-joke movie that manages to sustain through the one and a half hours. Pay special attention to the boat scene -- on first viewing my sisters and I were roaring with laughter. Avoid the sequel "Weekend at Bernie's II" like the plague. Rather than inane and funny, the movie is just inane.

"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.