Better Off Dead

A young John Cusack stars as a heartbroken teenager obsessing over the girl who dumped him in this wild and wacky 1985 teen comedy in search of a cult following. Cusack is Lane Meyer, a lovably nerdish high school kid who can't decide whether to fight the jerk of a ski champion who stole his girlfriend or simply end it all. Luckily he has a support group in Charles (Curtis Armstrong), his Jello-snorting best friend; and Monique (Diane Franklin), the cute French exchange student next door who can't speak a word of English—or so thinks her horrid host family. The debut feature of director Savage Steve Holland is less John Hughes than Looney Tunes, stuffed with oddball characters (a Japanese car nut who learned to speak English from Howard Cosell broadcasts, a little brother who builds laser guns and space shuttles out of household appliances), animated interludes (a dancing cheeseburger), and botched suicide attempts too absurd to take seriously. Yet there's a consistent sweetness and amiability behind the nuttiness. David Ogden Stiers and Kim Darby costar as Lane's befuddled parents. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)