Weekend at Bernie 's - wikipedia Weekend at Bernie 's This article is about the 1989 comedy film. For its 1993 sequel, see Weekend at Bernie 's II. For the 2006 album by The Queers, see Weekend at Bernie 's ( album ). For the episode of How I Met Your Mother, see Weekend at Barney 's. Weekend at Bernie 's Video release poster Directed by Ted Kotcheff Produced by Victor Drai Written by Robert Klane Starring Andrew McCarthy Jonathan Silverman Catherine Mary Stewart Terry Kiser Music by Andy Summers Cinematography François Protat Edited by Joan E. Chapman Production company Gladden Entertainment Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date July 5, 1989 ( 1989 - 07 - 05 ) Running time 97 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $15 million Box office $30.2 million Weekend at Bernie 's is a 1989 American black comedy film, directed by Ted Kotcheff and written by Robert Klane. The film stars Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman as young insurance corporation employees who discover their boss, Bernie, dead. While attempting to convince people that Bernie is still alive, they discover that Bernie had ordered their deaths to cover up his embezzlement. It received mixed critical response but was a financial success, grossing over $30 million on a $15 million budget. The film 's success inspired a sequel, Weekend at Bernie 's II ( 1993 ). Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Soundtrack 5 Lawsuit 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Plot Larry Wilson ( Andrew McCarthy ) and Richard Parker ( Jonathan Silverman ) are two low - level financial employees at an insurance corporation in New York City. While going over actuarial reports, Richard discovers a series of payments made for the same death. Richard and Larry take their findings to the CEO, Bernie Lomax ( Terry Kiser ), who commends them for discovering insurance fraud and invites them to his Hamptons island beach house for the Labor Day weekend. Unbeknownst to Larry and Richard, Bernie is behind the fraud. Nervously meeting with his mob partner Vito ( Louis Giambalvo ), Bernie asks to have Larry and Richard killed. However, after Bernie leaves, Vito decides Bernie has been attracting too much attention with his greed and his relationship with Vito 's girlfriend, Tina ( Catherine Parks ), and orders that he be killed instead. Bernie arrives at the island before Larry and Richard and plans the murders with Paulie ( Don Calfa ), the hitman, on the phone, unaware the conversation is being recorded on his answering machine. Bernie then plants cash and a fake confession note implicating Larry and Richard in the insurance fraud. Paulie arrives, killing Bernie with a drug overdose. When Larry and Richard arrive at Bernie 's house, they find Bernie 's body. Before they can call the police, guests arrive for a party that Bernie used to host every weekend. To Larry and Richard 's amazement, the guests are too engrossed in their partying to notice he is dead, with the dopey grin from the fatal injection and his sunglasses concealing his lifeless state. Fearing implication in Bernie 's death, and wanting to enjoy the luxury of the house for the weekend, Larry proposes he and Richard maintain the illusion that Bernie is still alive, a notion that Richard finds absurd. Only the arrival of Richard 's office crush, Gwen Saunders ( Catherine Mary Stewart ), a summer intern for the company, convinces him to go along with Larry 's plan. Later that night, Tina arrives at the house, and has Larry and Richard direct her to Bernie. There, she also fails to realize he is dead. At that moment, Marty, one of Vito 's mobsters witnesses the two of them apparently making love. Fooled into thinking Bernie 's assassination failed, he notifies Vito. The next morning, Richard is appalled to discover Larry furthering the illusion of Bernie being alive by manipulating his body 's limbs. Richard attempts to call the police but instead activates the phone message detailing Bernie 's plot against them. Unaware of the circumstances of Bernie 's death, they mistakenly believe they are still the targets of a mob hit and decide to use Bernie 's corpse as a prop for protection. Richard and Larry make various attempts to leave the island. All attempts are thwarted, as they repeatedly misplace and recover Bernie 's body. Finally, Larry and Richard are forced to return to Bernie 's home. Meanwhile, Paulie, unhinged at his apparent failure to kill Bernie, returns to the island. At the house, Gwen confronts Larry and Richard, who confess that Bernie has been dead since their arrival. Paulie then appears and opens fire at Bernie, then turns his attention to Larry, Richard, and Gwen. Chasing after the trio, Paulie corners Larry, who clumsily manages to subdue him with a phone cord and a punch. The police eventually arrive and place Paulie under arrest, taking him away in a straitjacket as he continues to insist Bernie is still alive. Bernie is loaded into an ambulance, however, his gurney rolls away and topples off the boardwalk, dumping him onto the beach right behind Richard, Larry, and Gwen, who run away after noticing him. Eventually, a young boy comes along and starts to `` play '' with Bernie, scooping buckets of sand over his body. Cast Andrew McCarthy as Lawrence `` Larry '' Wilson Jonathan Silverman as Richard Parker Terry Kiser as Bernie Lomax Catherine Mary Stewart as Gwen Saunders Don Calfa as Paulie Catherine Parks as Tina Eloise Broady as Tawny Gregory Salata as Marty Louis Giambalvo as Vito Ted Kotcheff as Mr. Parker Margaret Hall as Lomax 's secretary Jason Woliner as Bratty kid Reception The film received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 54 % rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone 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 echoed this sentiment, arguing that movies centered on dead bodies are rarely funny. Ebert gave the film 1 out of 4 stars overall. Nevertheless, the film was a financial success, grossing US $30 million at the box office, and was profitable on home video. Soundtrack The film 's closing credits feature the song `` Hot and Cold '', performed by American singer Jermaine Stewart. 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 Ted Kotcheff and screenwriter Robert Klane filed a lawsuit against Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer and 20th Century Fox for breach of contract for profits they claimed were due from the film. See also The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell References Jump up ^ Box Office Information for Weekend at Bernie 's. The Wrap. Retrieved April 4, 2013. Jump up ^ Weekend at Bernie 's at Rotten Tomatoes Jump up ^ `` Weekend at Bernie 's ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015 - 12 - 26. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger. `` Weekend at Bernie 's Movie Review ( 1989 ) Roger Ebert ''. www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2015 - 12 - 26. Jump up ^ Johnson, Steve ( Jul 13, 1993 ). `` Resurrection ' Weekend at Bernie 's II ' Feels More Like a Month ''. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014 - 10 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Familiarity Breeds Film Hits ''. Daily News of Los Angeles. Jul 13, 1993. Retrieved 2009 - 09 - 01. Jump up ^ Hot and Cold ( Media notes ). Jermaine Stewart. Arista Records. 1989. AS1 - 9848. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Jump up ^ `` Jermaine Stewart - Hot And Cold / Search For Love - Arista - USA - AS1 - 9848 ''. 45cat. 2016 - 01 - 11. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 24. Jump up ^ `` The Motion Picture Guide 1990 Annual : The Films of 1989 - Google Books ''. Books.google.co.uk. 2008 - 07 - 31. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 24. Jump up ^ Patten, Dominic ( 24 January 2014 ). `` Fox & MGM Sued In Multimillion - Dollar ' Weekend At Bernie 's ' Profits Suit ''. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 30 March 2015. Jump up ^ McNary, Dave ( 24 January 2014 ). `` ' Weekend at Bernie 's ' Filmmakers Sue Fox, MGM Over Profits ''. Variety. Retrieved 2 April 2015. Jump up ^ Lowrey, Brandon ( 15 October 2014 ). `` MGM Tries To Kill ' Weekend At Bernie 's ' Contract Claims ''. Retrieved 2 April 2015. External links Weekend at Bernie 's on IMDb Weekend at Bernie 's at the TCM Movie Database Weekend at Bernie 's at AllMovie Weekend at Bernie 's at the American Film Institute Catalog Weekend at Bernie 's at Box Office Mojo Weekend at Bernie 's at Rotten Tomatoes Films directed by Ted Kotcheff Tiara Tahiti ( 1962 ) Life at the Top ( 1965 ) The Desperate Hours ( 1967 ) Of Mice and Men ( 1968 ) ( TV ) Two Gentlemen Sharing ( 1969 ) Wake in Fright ( 1971 ) Billy Two Hats ( 1974 ) The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz ( 1974 ) Fun with Dick and Jane ( 1977 ) Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe ? ( 1978 ) North Dallas Forty ( 1979 ) Split Image ( 1982 ) First Blood ( 1982 ) Uncommon Valor ( 1983 ) Joshua Then and Now ( 1985 ) Switching Channels ( 1988 ) Winter People ( 1989 ) Weekend at Bernie 's ( 1989 ) Folks ! ( 1992 ) The Shooter ( 1995 ) Family of Cops ( 1995 ) Borrowed Hearts ( 1997 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Weekend_at_Bernie%27s&oldid=859107809 '' Categories : 1989 films English - language films 1980s black comedy films 1980s buddy films 1980s criminal comedy films 20th Century Fox films American black comedy films American buddy films American criminal comedy films American films Films about contract killing Films directed by Ted Kotcheff Films set in Long Island Films set in New York City Films set on beaches Films shot in New York City Films shot in North Carolina Mafia comedy films Necrophilia in fiction Slapstick films Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Español Euskara Français Italiano עברית Latina Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska 6 more Edit links This page was last edited on 11 September 2018, at 19 : 27 ( UTC ). 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Question: who played bernie in the movie weekend at bernie's
Answer: Terry Kiser