Weekend at Bernie's starts when two lowly clerks at an insurance agency uncover a $2 million fraud and report it to their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser). Unfortunately for them, Bernie is the one behind the fraud, and he invit... more »es them to his island beach house for the weekend, where he intends to have them killed by his mob contacts. Unfortunately for Bernie, the mob decides to rub him out instead--and thus begin the necrotic hijinks. The clerks, Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy), arrive and discover Bernie's body. At first they panic and start to call the police, but when a party of islanders sweeps in, Richard and Larry also discover that the local residents are so self-absorbed they don't notice that Bernie is dead. So if our heroes can just convince everyone that Bernie is still alive for they weekend, they can have a splendid time. Unfortunately, they also convince the mob hitman, who keeps trying to take Bernie out. Weekend at Bernie's was made at the height of 1980s fashion and features many amusing outfits and hairstyles--often the styles are funnier than the dialogue, and the characters are tissue-paper thin. Still, there's no denying that the movie chugs along from bit to bit and never takes itself more seriously than it should. A cheerful, disposable piece of fluff. --Bret Fetzer« less
Funny movie, but I think what makes it really funny is how 80s it is! The clothing cracks me up.
The over-all concept is a good one, with plenty of slap-stick comedy.
Parents should be made aware of some homosexual jokes, and other innuendos that they might not want kids to hear and see.
Movie Reviews
You ask why I gave this movie 5 stars?
Victoria A. Wildermuth | Odessa, TX USA | 01/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I gave this film 5 stars because it is one of those rare movies that made me laugh out loud! This is a very dark comedy about 2 idiots who find their boss dead and convince hundreds of gullible people that he is actually alive. They walk him around a resort, go boating with his remains, have parties. They even convince the hitman who killed Bernie that he's still alive! So, you guessed it, the hitman tries and tries again to "kill" Bernie. The physical humor is absolutely the best. It's a unique concept. I guarantee that you will laugh until you hurt. It's totally 80's with a great theme song sung by Jermaine Stewart. Highly recommended."
Dark Comedy, Light Fun
C. A. Luster | Burke, VA USA | 06/10/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The cast is perfect and the sets, music, and all that went into this movie seem to meld to make a very funny movie. Andrew McCarthy as Larry Wilson and Jonathan Silverman as Richard Parker are a good match for co-workers at an insurance company. Larry the brown nosing party man and Richard the hard working nerd. When Richard discovers a two million dollar mistake in claims their boss Bernie invites them over for the weekend to discuss it. What happens after that is sick, demented, and funny. Any fan of "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" and "The Whole Nine Yards" should enjoy it. This is one of those rare movies were seeing a dead person being lugged around, beat up, dropped, bareface ski, washed around in the tide, shot, strangled, and more is just plain outrageously funny."
Weekend at bernies
Karen Darke | London, United Kingdom | 11/12/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a great film to make you laugh. Just old fashioned humor, I laughed from start to finish. The corps [bernie] is great and the two guys on holiday for the weekend have unfortunatley fallen into a difficult situation and try hard to get out of it, with many histerical idea's. Certainly a film to cheer you up on a cold dark evening, my sides ached after watching it."
Classic black humour of 80's
Lady Lana | 01/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Fantastic film that i first saw when i was little and i like it still. Amazing black humour, nice and relaxing comedy. After 20 years is still funny: funny actors, funny scenario and just 5 stars."
A hilarious farce!
Kurt A. Johnson | North-Central Illinois, USA | 09/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are two working stiffs trying to get ahead in corporate world. While working overtime, they find evidence that someone has been defrauding the company, and they take their evidence to their boss Bernie Lomax (Terry Kaiser). Bernie is so impressed with them that he invites them to his weekend house on the coast. Yep, things are looking up for our heroes...or are they? It turns out that Bernie is the thief, and he arranges to have them killed! When the boys arrive at Bernie's they find him dead, and soon find out about his plans for them. Fortunately, none of Bernie's party-hardy friends seem to realize that he is dead. If the boys can keep up the pretext that Bernie is alive, they just might survive. Now, how do you keep anyone from finding out that your boss is actually dead? [Color, released in 1989, with a running time of 1:37.]
OK, no matter who writes the description, this movie is going to sound implausible to the point of silliness. Well...yeah, this is not a movie to be taken seriously. What it is is a hilarious farce, with Terry Kaiser doing a surprisingly funny imitation of a dead guy! The movie is generally clean with one off camera sex scene and one scene with a practically naked woman (Tawny - Elois DeJoria, Playboy Miss April 1988). But, that said, it's a very funny movie that you can watch with your whole family. We love this movie and highly recommend it to you! "