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good back-story, and good acting

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The first must-see film of the year.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This movie has a weird effect on your perception of time. Everything happens 10 seconds after you already know it's going to happen - but then is not quite as funny as you imagined it.Apparently written/directed/edited by people who've never done comedy before, unless was simply a pacing problem due to lack of script - like a half hour episode that was padded out to be much longer. Every shot seems to have the pre- and post-roll frames kept in, like they didn't have any choice in editing due to a lack of material.The two leads are untrained, unseasoned and unbearable, and the writer doesn't seem to have been allowed time to finish or given a script editor. Style doesn't even redeem itself for its age, as there are plenty of contemporaneous black comedies/dumb comedies from its period that are paced and have enough jokes to fill a movie - you know, comedy movies written by experienced comedy writers, performed by skilled comedy players - those guys you have to pay fees to.A quick note on the baffling following this movie has - what's intolerable is not that some say they enjoyed it (each to their own, I've no problem with that), it's the hyperbole people use, praising it to the extent they give the impression they believe the memorability of the film was deliberate, as if the movie makers might count themselves amongst those who find the movie funny. Seriously, this movie paid mortgages, guys, it didn't make people proud (or laugh). The 2 leads barely worked again, and neither did the writer. Why? Because they suck. Obviously. Get a grip!Bottom line - were you stoned (or 10) when you watched this? Then try watching it again - especially before coming here and telling people it's good.I've laughed more at a funeral. Seriously. I'd tell a court that under oath.

Larry Wilson (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard Parker (Jonathan Silverman) are best friends working under Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser). They discover a serious discrepancy in payouts to life insurance by the company. They don't realize that it's Bernie who's been committing the fraud. Bernie asks the mob to kill the two clueless friends but he is killed instead. When Larry and Richard find Bernie dead in his beach house, they decide to keep the illusion of him being alive to keep the party going.It's a one joke movie, and it's not that funny of a joke. Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman have some fun carrying Bernie around. They work well together. They've got good chemistry. There are some chuckles but the joke wears thin.

What ever happened to comedies like these? I have loved this movie since childhood. The brilliant Andy Summers' (Guitarist of The Police)score sets the tone of the silly comedic situations that occur within the beautiful atmosphere of the Carolinian island where the film was shot. Two young NYC guys who have been forced to work weekends at their insurance company job with no end in sight until they uncover a major finding at the firm. Their boss invites them to a spend Labor Day weekend in the party-going atmosphere of "Hampton Island" to reward their efforts. The pair are exposed to the high end lifestyle of bikini clad women, golf carts, and speed boats for the first time in their lives as they find their host/boss dead of an apparent drug overdose. The party atmosphere, in addition to other drama, takes over before they can properly alert authorities.As silly as this comedy is, it is still well written and acted. The decor and wardrobe will bring you back to a carefree late 80's era. Picturesque beach scenery mixed with amazing weather will make you want to visit Bernie's weekend getaway community. I highly recommend this movie.

Weekend at Bernie's is easily one of the most underrated and truly funny comedies of the eighties. It has a sort of cult level to it, but nothing respectable like some eighties films. It's unsung, much like License to Drive. It managed to spawn a sequel four years later and sort of has its own dark side equipped with certain levels of humor. It's hard to explain.Before I get into the plot and the positives, let's talk about one small thing; some points in this film are hard to believe. Some scenes where the boys desperately struggle to pass Bernie off as alive is definitely fake. It is hard to work with a plot where you have to pretend a character is alert and active very smoothly. McCarthy and Silverman do only a fair job as they try to work with the script they were handed trying to make a dead guy seem living.Sometimes, it is just not believably that guy is alive. When Larry is "playing" Monopoly with the corpse, maybe at a distance Bernie can seem alive and well. But when his wife goes to have sex with him, it is hard to believe Bernie has an active sex life when he is dead. Certain points were not executed as well as they could've been. But it was good and not a total letdown.The plot: Two time insurance clerks named Richard and Larry (McCarthy and Silverman) find a flaw in the companies' receipts suggesting someone could be stealing money from the company. They report the problem to their boss Bernie Lomax (Kiser) in hopes to acquire a certain reward for their findings.Bernie says he wants them to come down to his Hampton Island beach house to spend the weekend to celebrate what they did for the company. Richard and Larry don't know that Bernie plans to have them both killed. Bernie, ironically, is then killed by one of his buddies named Paulie who then shoved heroin in his pocket to make it look like an accidental overdose. Upon Richard and Larry's arrival they find the dead Bernie and contemplate what to do with him.They decide on pretending he is alive so they do not need to spend a weekend answering questions they don't know at the police station. Incredibly self indulgent, but understandable to a degree. Not like they killed him.The comedy is slapstick, but people do not understand that slapstick can be done well. All you need is a serious situation, done right. Nobody wants to watch a comedy where the characters are having a good time. Like Grown Ups. If you watch a comedy where the characters are trying to have be serious, but nothing but comical things come in their path, then that is funny. Black Sheep and Death at a Funeral are prime examples of good slapstick movies.What also helps any slapstick formula are two people that work well together. Most likely, you'd get a serious guy and a silly guy. Andrew McCarthy and Johnathan Silverman are a good duo and sort of remind me of a pre-Chris Farley and David Spade relationship. Not as funny, but a little reminiscent.Weekend at Bernie's is by no means an awful film. There are certainly worse comedies that don't even make me smile and are more like watching a bad home movie. The eighties ruled in the comedy genre. While Weekend at Bernie's is still waiting to have a blowup in popularity, it is sort of full of life in its own right.Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Johnathan Silverman, and Terry Kiser. Directed by: Ted Kotcheff.