Weekend at Bernie's

PG-13

1989

1h 37m

Comedy

List

54%

26 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Fun-loving salesmen Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are invited by their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser), to stay the weekend at his posh beach house. Little do they know that Bernie is the perpetrator of a fraud they've uncovered and is arranging to have them killed. When the plan backfires and Bernie is killed instead, the buddies decide not to let a little death spoil their vacation. They pretend Bernie is still alive, leading to hijinks and corpse desecration galore.

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Critics Consensus

Weekend at Bernie's wrings a surprising amount of laughs out of its corpse-driven slapstick premise, but one joke can only carry a film so far.

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Stephen D

What kind of heartless, humorless social maladaptate doesn't like this movie? It's the quintessential eighties slapstick comedy, and a true classic that will stand the test of time. Docking a star because Kiser's performance was a little rigid. Yuk yuk yuk.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/13/24

Full Review

Jonathan L

Some say they milked the Bernie bit too much, I didn't see that personally, though I did feel the comedy was generally cliché and predictable. That being said, the cast killed it, the plot was suprisingly thorough, and the jokes that were original were hilarious. 87/100

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/24

Full Review

David W

It maybe stretches the gag a little thin but it's one of those rare comedies that made me cry with laughter and only a precious, small amount over the years have done that. Highly recommended.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Test T

I watched this on DVD recently. The film is quite good up until the point where Bernie is killed. After that point, it's garbage. Dragging a dead guy around a beach resort is not funny the first time, but to spend half the film doing it hoping that it will get funny is madness. I really could not believe that anyone could run with this plan and hope to satisfy an audience. It's just bad taste repeated over and over until the film ends. If I'd have been at the Cinema I would have walked out! It's a shame because the initial story was good and the film has a lovely location which could have been used much better. As it is, I found the film very irritating and distasteful, and I would recommend people to avoid it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/24

Full Review

Ace R

Without a doubt one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I laughed until my ribs hurt.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/23/23

Full Review

Natalie

It's been a long time since I've seen this movie so it might not hold up, but I always remember it having me in stitches when I was a kid/teen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/09/23

Full Review

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Ted Kotcheff

Director

Andrew McCarthy

Larry Wilson

Jonathan Silverman

Richard Parker

Terry Kiser

Bernie Lomax

Catherine Mary Stewart

Gwen Saunders

Don Calfa

Paulie

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Duane Byrge

Hollywood Reporter

Bernie's is good old, knock-down slapstick with just the right dose of cruelty thrown in.

Jul 5, 2017

Full Review

Nell Minow

Movie Mom

A classic of the dumb, hit-on-the-head comedy genre!

Rated: 4/5

Nov 24, 2002

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Weekend at Bernie's makes two mistakes: It gives us a joke that isn't very funny, and it expects the joke to carry an entire movie.

Rated: 1/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Mike Ryan

Uproxx

Weekend at Bernie's does a pretty good job of meticulously setting up why two numbskulls hang out with a dead body.

Sep 14, 2022

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Weekend at Bernie's is a suffocating, repeating, offensive funeral [Full review in Spanish].

Jul 11, 2022

Full Review

Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Irreverent dead-body comedy has plenty of iffy stuff.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 16, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

Fun-loving salesmen Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are invited by their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser), to stay the weekend at his posh beach house. Little do they know that Bernie is the perpetrator of a fraud they've uncovered and is arranging to have them killed. When the plan backfires and Bernie is killed instead, the buddies decide not to let a little death spoil their vacation. They pretend Bernie is still alive, leading to hijinks and corpse desecration galore.

Director: Ted Kotcheff
Producer: Robert Klane
Screenwriter: Robert Klane
Production Co: Gladden Entertainment
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $29.4M
Runtime: 1h 37m
Sound Mix: Surround

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