Review: Weekend at Bernie's (1989)

Sometimes I think I have no right to be a film blogger. There are so many ‘classics’ and ‘must-watch’s that I haven’t seen, and most of my film collection is post-2003, but my collection is growing and becoming more diverse over time, all thanks to this blogging community. I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off not too long ago and Weekend at Bernie’s was swiftly moved to the top of my list. I think a new found love of 80’s comedies is beginning to grow inside of me!

Do I even need to explain the plot? So many other films and TV shows have referenced Weekend at Bernie’s that I could have written most of this part of my review before even watching it. Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are invited to spend the weekend at their boss Bernie’s (Terry Kiser) beach house, seemingly as a reward for discovering a huge discrepancy in the company’s finances. It turns out that Bernie hires colleagues of his to murder Richard and Larry, but the deal backfires when they decide they’ve had enough and kill Bernie instead.

I really enjoyed Weekend at Bernie’s, more than I thought I would actually. I just love how it’s completely unrealistic, and yet still immensely enjoyable. Too often now I find myself watching nitpicking at films because a certain element just isn’t viable, yet Weekend at Bernie’s relies on that aspect for its comedy factor. I was waiting for someone, anyone to discover the fact that Bernie was in fact dead but it never happened!

This is a classic, I am a huge Andrew McCarthy fan anyway (Mannequin was one of my favourite movies as a kid).  The fact that the lead character is 'dead' is quite a large nitpick but it works for this!

The highlight of Weekend at Bernie’s for me was Terry Kiser playing the dead Bernie Lomax. I’m sure the movie budget would have been smaller if a dummy body was used instead, but Terry’s reactions to such minor things such as a character leaning on the soft he’s sat in provided so many laughs for me. My favourite moment is towards the end where Larry and Richard walk Bernie down the pier with their shoelaces tied together, it was just so funny to watch! Brilliant scene, I think if I watched this today I would still laugh as much as I did when me and my Mom used to watch it as a kid (she had a major crush on Andrew McCarthy so his films were a staple in our home!)

Since watching the movie I’ve been able to go back to friends, family, and now new work colleagues to tell them they can finally stop shunning me. A colleague at my new work place was so happy to hear that I’d seen it that we spent the next half hour at work discussing all the funny moments, and then he told me about the Brat Pack. I might have to dedicate a separate post to this but I’d never heard the term before. It’s basically a collection of actors and actresses who often starred together in a lot of 80’s movies. The result of this now is that I’ve scratched one movie off my ‘must watch’ list, and added at least another dozen. Doh.  Add the rest of Andrew McCarthy's cataglogue to this as well (Mannequin, Only You, Weekend at Bernies 2) and that is quite a list!!
This film is terrible really but awesome at the same time (not quite in the league with Sharknado), you have to watch it to love it.  McCarthy and Silverman have great chemistry throughout, one being the slacker and the other the ultimate worrier and logical one makes for great viewing.  I actually really would like to watch this again now and see if I love it as much as I did back in the day but if Allie's review is anything to go by I'm sure I will!

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Weekend at Bernie’s, and if there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen it yet, please do so soon! You won’t be disappointed. Has anyone seen the sequel? I’d love to know what anyone thinks of it.  Yep, disappointing as most sequels are!!