Ep 22: Better Off Dead

A sweet story is smothered by its own self-indulgence, film at 11. But, hey, John Cusack falls for an adorable French girl, so that’s worth something. Get the podcast: Listen here at PopD | Go to iTunes

Story Analysis & Ratings:

Lucy says: ~ Structure: 1, Comedy: 4, Romance: 5

Jenny says: ~ Structure: 1, Comedy: 4, Romance: 5

Movie Info:

Release Date: October 11, 1985 Director: Savage Steve Holland Writer: Savage Steve Holland. More info at IMDb.

Jenny

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5 responses to “Ep 22: Better Off Dead”

  1. Thank you for the tweet up! That was much fun!!
    Thank you, too, for the podcast because I never would have picked up on the arc of the romance. You’re right, the structure was all over the place. And the animation stuff kept pulling me out of the story.

    It kind of reminds me of a first time writer who is instinctively talented and who has a good story but who doesn’t know how to tie things together or weave in the layers. You still get good stuff and due to instinct it might even be readable/ watchable but at some point you know you’re not getting the full goodness that could’ve been.

  2. You know what, FINALLY someone is able to explain why I don’t like this movie, even though I like Cusack and I like Monique and the end with them is cute. People think I’m awful for not liking it much, but it has always felt to me like it’s a movie that’s just trying to be weird to be weird. I forget it’s supposed to be romantic for most of it, and I’m sitting there going, “WTF?” all the time. Also, they tend to think that creepy is superfunny, so that doesn’t help anything for me. I actually FORGET that there is a romance, I just remember going, “Why Howard Cosell Guy?” and “Why Two Dollars Guy?” afterwards.

  4. I love John Cusack.
    That does not mean I love all his movies. Even an actor of his charisma cannot save “Must Love Dogs.” (Yes, I love Cusack, and dogs, and most of the actors in that movie most of the time, especially when they weren’t actually /in/ that movie. Still think it would’ve been a better RomCom if the leads had been Cusack and Christopher Plummer — at least, the only time the movie came alive was the two-minute scene between Cusack and Plummer.)