Bernie

I had the privilege of seeing this film in Austin last month. Mr. Linklater was among the thousands devastated by the fires in Bastrop county and with his hard work and help from Jack Black and crew they turned the screening into a fundraiser to help the fire victims. They raised over $155,000. It was a great event. The movie was the best part. If you live or have lived in a small town anywhere in America you'll 'get' this movie and you won't be able to stop laughing. If you're in Texas or you hate Texas, it'll be just that much better. The characters are real, the acting is superb. Jack is at the top of his game and Mathew did an outstanding job. He played his role right on the edge, always close to going over the top but never getting there. Shirley is a gem and acted like I've never seen her before. Thank you Richard for your film and your efforts in Bastrop. My farm survived, but too many friends lost everything. Oh, and thanks for letting me be in this film. Woohoo that's me at the end Ma!!

Casting Jack Black in the title role of this 2012 dark comedy turns out to be a masterstroke on the part of director and co-screenwriter Richard Linklater because the real-life character of Bernie Tiede is a comically ambiguous figure not only sexually but more to the point, as a jovial child-man personality beloved by his small Texas town of Carthage while at the same time, strangely insistent in his constant presence in their lives. His pointed need for universal acceptance and unconditional love is what makes Bernie unique as a screen creation. It takes Black's oddly discomfiting screen persona to make the character work as a protagonist of closeted complexity, and in turn, he delivers his most accomplished screen work to date. No stranger to Texas-size guffaws intermingled with wry observations about human nature, the versatile Linklater ("Before Sunrise/Sunset") tells this hard-to-believe, true-crime story with both morbid humor and surprising conviction.

Based on a seriocomic 1998 Texas Monthly article by co-screenwriter Skip Hollandsworth, the plot revolves around the unlikely relationship between Bernie, a relentlessly thoughtful assistant funeral director, and Marjorie Nugent, recently widowed and one of the richest women in Carthage. As Bernie becomes indispensable to the fabric of the community with his acts of charitable kindness, his Broadway-style choir solos, and his gentlemanly way of comforting widows in the throes of their grief, the ever-scowling Marjorie is always ready for battle with not only the townsfolk who impede on her life but even her immediate family who can't stand her. Bernie, however, is able to breakthrough her icy veneer with his cheery persistence, and their relationship evolves into an unhealthy codependence to put it mildly. As Marjorie lavishes Bernie with expensive gifts and luxurious vacations, she grows increasingly manipulative in her need to control his every move to meet her every need.

Even Bernie has his limits about what he is willing to do under her iron fist, and needless to say, consequences ensue. For all the dire consequences, Linklater keeps the mood buoyant with the insertion of intertitles to signal what question the movie will address next and with the brief interviews he includes with both actors and true residents of Carthage, all showing their unqualified support of Bernie through his burgeoning troubles. Much like Warren Beatty did in "Reds", Linklater uses them as a cumulative Greek chorus who on one hand, provide some of the film's biggest laughs, and on the other, illustrate just how myopic and oppressive a small town can be in its rumor mongering ways, so much so that Bernie's trial has to be moved fifty miles away in order to allow the light of objectivity to filter into the proceedings. As Bernie, Black finally has a multi-dimensional role that fits him perfectly, and I would be hard pressed to identify anyone else who could have played the character to the seriocomic depths he achieves here.

Well into her seventh decade of movie stardom, Shirley MacLaine is not particularly challenged in portraying Marjorie's sourpuss nature since she's been playing variations on the same role since her turn as the ornery Ouisa in "Steel Magnolias". However, in one key scene, she lets loose all her insecurities that exposes the impenetrable cage in which she has put the increasingly desperate Bernie. Linklater favorite Matthew McConnaughey ("Dazed and Confused") plays the showboating district attorney Danny Buck with gusto, although I wish he was reined in a bit more to provide more of a contrast to the other two principal actors. The movie is a fascinating meld of the Coen Brothers' "Fargo" and Hal Ashby's "Harold and Maude" with an unexpected dose of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries. While Linklater does not completely avoid making Carthage the object of ridicule, he has made a black comedy with surprising resonance when all is said and done, especially when you see the real Tiede in an archival video clip at the end.

A mortician strikes up a friendship with a rich controlling businesswoman that doesn't have good consequences.

The film is told like a documentary with interviews with people who knew the pair along with flashbacks to stages in their relationship. It's an interesting format and one that works well. The story flows well and holds your attention throughout. This is a good example of a black comedy that really works with a sparkling and very witty script with lots of well observed and funny moments but also some good dark drama.

It features a strong cast with Jack Black as a popular mortician.The stand out performance for me was by Matthew McConaughey as the charismatic cop trying to put Black behind bars.

Bernie is one of those films that you watch with low expectations but which surprises you with how good it is. It deserves a much higher rating than it's current 6.8 (36,466 votes). Highly recommended.

"Bernie" is a nice surprise by Richard Linklater and Jack Black - the same team that brought you 2003's comedy hit "The School of Rock"; now they have reunited for a different type of comedy - a dark one.

Black acts differently in this movie - more restraint, more focused, and at times more intense than in any other film he's done before. His humor here is low-key and not physical a feat done with his absorbing performance. Here is a guy who is loved by everyone - who must be loved by everyone, and who can never say no. It is both an interesting and challenging role for him but he pulls it off in a great way - perhaps paving the way to more challenging and dramatic roles in the future. Compared to other comedy film actors who tried more serious turns, he's not yet as terrific as say, Jim Carrey in "The Truman Show" or Adam Sandler in "Punch-Drunk Love" - but he's on the right track.

Shirley MacLaine is also very different here - she has a sweet, somewhat cheeky personality in many of her previous films of late, but for this movie there's a cold, demeaning aura around her, and her steely eyes sell it. Matthew McConaughey as the ruthless district attorney has certainly improved in his acting range - just check out the courtroom scenes.

I really appreciate the small-town setting of the film. The film is told by ''interviews'' with the friendly small-town folk, giving a quirky and homely feel to the film, while at the same time Linklater smoothly meshes narrative flashbacks into it - which brings me to the editing. The film moves at a strong clip and never feels rushed nor draggy. The above-average screenplay has balances just the right amount of screen- time to establish the story and characters, notably Bernie. Just when you think the film is about to end - there's always another interesting thing happening that keeps the audience glued.

Black and Linklater make a good, promising actor-director team. Perhaps Linklater will be the key to unlock Black's potential in acting. Of course, this is still a ''little'' movie - a low budget, and scarcely any promotion at all... so hopefully word of mouth spreads just how very good this dark comedy is.

P.S. I was not aware that the film is based on a true story. That made the film even more dark and quirky than it was supposed to be.

Overall rating: 77%

This was a surprisingly good movie. Director Richard Linklater blends semi-documentary style with dark comedy and tragic real-life events in an exceptional way. Based on the murder of a wealthy widow in Carthage Texas in 1996. This movie gives you an interesting glimpse into small town life and how the people there dealt with this unique situation. Jack Black proves he can act, Matthew McConaughy looked to be enjoying himself, and Shirley MacLaine, while not having much to do, is still a welcome addition to the cast. Linklater even uses real townsfolk to help narrate the story through their own recollections of the events. This is one of those independent films that is a must see.