20 Underrated Movies You Have To See

Regardless of your feelings for John Cusack's recent work as an actor, his charisma and easy screen presence cannot be denied. Never has been more true than with any of his roles in the eighties and nineties, including stellar performances in Say Anyhting, Sixteen Candles, The Grifters, Con Air and High Fidelity.

But it is his role in Savage Steve Holland's deliciously dark and comical Better Off Dead which deserves added praise.

The film follows Lane Meyer (Cusack), an odd teen with a weird family and a powerful fixation on his girlfriend, who is dumped by said girlfriend and decides to kill himself. He makes several attempts at suicide which are achingly funny despite the end goal, and then grows close a French foreign exchange student who may be the girl of his dreams.

The whole affair is wickedly funny and fast paced, with Holland able to look at the most extreme of human behaviour through a lens that only sees the comedy. Cusack, meanwhile, anchors the entire picture with a typically charming and laid back performance. It's well worth your time (even if, back when it was released, Cusack hated the finished product) and is a quintessential eighties teen comedy to add to your bucket list.