"Gee, I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky."

Better Off Dead is a highly rewarding comedy that made me laugh out loud throughout. It's a teen pleaser, technically, and a little nostalgic for me even though I wasn't into this type of movie when I was a teenager myself. But Better Off Dead is good enough to surpass its genre and entertain a broader audience. I loved how the central story, overdone as it is, is one we can identify with, yet everything around it is completely off the wall. The laughs come one right after another, from the supporting cast; the sensitivity comes from the main character, played by John Cusack, whose performance is too easy to underrate. Don't miss this.