''Weekend at Bernie's'' is a 1989 American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed by

Ted Kotcheff William Theodore Kotcheff (; April 7, 1931 – April 10, 2025) was a CanadianUS Director Ted Kotcheff Granted Bulgarian Citizenship. Bulgarian Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on Friday granted citizenship to Ted Kotcheff, a US director bor ...

, written by

Robert Klane Robert Klane (October 17, 1941 – August 29, 2023) was an American screenwriter, novelist and filmmaker, best known for early iconoclastic novels and for his screenplays for dark comedies such as ''Where's Poppa?'' (1970) and ''Weekend at Bernie ...

, and starring Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Terry Kiser. It tells the story of two young insurance corporation employees who discover that their boss, Bernie, is dead after arriving at his house in

The Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End (Long Island), East End of Long Island, consist of the town (New York), towns of Southampton (town), New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork ...

. While attempting to convince people that Bernie is still alive until they can leave to prevent them from being falsely suspected for causing his death, they discover that Bernie had, in fact, ordered their killing to cover up his

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

. ''Weekend at Bernie's'' was released on July 5, 1989, and grossed $30 million on a $15 million budget. The film's success inspired the sequel, '' Weekend at Bernie's II'', released in 1993.

Plot

Larry Wilson and Richard Parker are two low-level financial employees at an insurance company in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. While reviewing actuarial reports, Richard discovers a series of payments made for the same death. He and Larry take their findings to the CEO, the wealthy and

hedonistic Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of egoism, it suggests that peopl ...

Bernie Lomax, who commends them for discovering the

insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any intentional act committed to deceive or mislead an insurance company during the application or claims process, or the wrongful denial of a legitimate claim by an insurance company. It occurs when a claimant knowingly attem ...

and invites them to his beach house in

for the

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

weekend. Unbeknownst to the pair, Bernie is behind the fraud. Nervously meeting with his mob partner, Vito, Bernie asks to have the two killed to cover up the discovery. After Bernie leaves, Vito instead orders that Bernie be killed for sleeping with Vito's girlfriend, Tina. Bernie arrives before the pair and plans the murders with hitman Paulie on the phone, unaware the conversation is being recorded on his answering machine. Paulie arrives and kills Bernie with a lethal

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

injection, then stages it as a self-inflicted accidental

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

. When Larry and Richard arrive, they find Bernie's body, but before they can call the authorities, guests arrive for a party that Bernie usually hosts every weekend. To the pair's amazement, the guests are too busy partying to notice he is dead, with his dopey grin from the injection and sunglasses concealing his lifeless state. Fearing being implicated in Bernie's death and wanting to enjoy the luxurious house for the weekend, Larry proposes that he and Richard maintain the illusion that Bernie is still alive, which Richard finds absurd. He changes his mind when Gwen Saunders, a summer intern for the company with whom he has a flirtatious relationship, arrives. After the party, a drunken Tina arrives at the house and demands that the pair direct her to Bernie. However, she also fails to realize the situation and has sex with his corpse. One of Vito's mobsters witnesses this and, mistakenly thinking Bernie's

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

failed, notifies Vito, who sends Paulie back. The following day, Richard is appalled to discover Larry wearing Bernie's

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

, and furthering the illusion by puppeteering Bernie's limbs. He attempts to call the police but activates the phone message detailing Bernie's plot against them instead. Unaware of how Bernie died, they mistakenly believe they are still the targets of a mob hit and, as Bernie had said not to kill them while he was in the area, decide to use Bernie's

corpse A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

as a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

. All of their attempts to leave the island are thwarted, as they repeatedly misplace and recover Bernie's body, and eventually are forced to return to Bernie's home. Meanwhile, while they are not looking, Paulie makes numerous other assassination attempts and grows unhinged at his repeated "failures". Gwen, who has been trying to talk to Bernie, observes Larry and Richard with the body, thus forcing them to reveal his death to her. Paulie then arrives and repeatedly shoots the corpse before turning his attention to Larry, Richard, and Gwen. Chasing after the trio, Paulie corners Larry, who subdues him. The police arrive and arrest Paulie, taking him away in a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer's arms are in the sleeves, ...

as he continues to insist Bernie is still alive. Gwen invites Richard to stay with her family for the week while Larry decides to go home to give them space. Bernie's body is loaded into an ambulance. However, the gurney rolls away and topples off the

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

, dumping the body onto the beach right behind the trio, who run away in terror. Afterwards, a young boy who had buried the body in the sand earlier, comes along and starts burying it again.

Cast

Production

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor. Born into a show business family, he made his film debut with a lead role in ''No Small Affair'' (1984); his breakout role was as Duckie in the John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughe ...

was originally cast in the film, but was replaced by Andrew McCarthy. Shooting took place in New York City in August 1988. The Hamptons scenes were filmed at Bald Head Island, North Carolina, Bernie's house was filmed at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and the ferry scenes were filmed at

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina Wrightsville Beach is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. Wrightsville Beach is just east of Wilmington, North Carolina, Wilmington and is part of the Wilmington metropolitan area. The population was 2,477 at the 2010 Uni ...

Reception

Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a grade of "B" on scale of A+ to F.

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called the film "tasteless" and "crude" and felt that in the end it was impossible to "drag one tired joke around for nearly two hours. Like Bernie, the movie ends up dead on its feet."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

echoed this sentiment, arguing that movies centered on dead bodies are rarely funny. Ebert gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, stating "''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." The film grossed $30 million at the box office and was profitable on home video. The film has remained popular in part because of repeated showings on cable television. ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' described it as having "aged into something close to respectability".

Soundtrack

The film's closing credits feature the song "Hot and Cold", performed by American singer

Jermaine Stewart William Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 – March 17, 1997) was an American R&B singer, best known for his 1986 hit single " We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also peaked w ...

. It was written by Andy Summers and Winston "Pipe" Matthews, and produced by Richard Rudolph and Michael Sembello. The song was released as a single by Arista in the United States during June 1989 to promote the film.

Lawsuit

On January 24, 2014, director

and screenwriter Robert Klane filed a lawsuit against

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

for breach of contract for profits they claimed were due from the film.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weekend At Bernie's 1989 films 1989 black comedy films 1980s buddy comedy films 1980s crime comedy films 1980s English-language films 20th Century Fox films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American black comedy films American buddy comedy films American crime comedy films English-language black comedy films English-language crime comedy films Films about contract killing in the United States Films about embezzlement Films about vacationing Films directed by Ted Kotcheff Films set on Long Island Films set in New York City Films set on beaches The Hamptons, New York in popular culture Films shot in New York City Films shot in North Carolina Mafia comedy films Films about necrophilia Slapstick films Cultural depictions of the Mafia 1980s American films Films with screenplays by Robert Klane English-language buddy comedy films