In small-town Texas, an affable mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when she starts to become controlling, he goes to great lengths to separate himself from her gr... Read allIn small-town Texas, an affable mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when she starts to become controlling, he goes to great lengths to separate himself from her grasp.In small-town Texas, an affable mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when she starts to become controlling, he goes to great lengths to separate himself from her grasp.
- Awards
- 10 wins & 19 nominations
- Carl
- (as Matthew Greer)
- Townsperson
- (as Sonny Davis)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaReal residents of Carthage, Texas who knew the real Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent appear in the film providing commentary on the events.
- GoofsBernie committed the murder in 1996, yet he answers an iPhone nearly right after the murder.
- Quotes
Townsperson: [talking about Marjorie Nugent] She would chew your ass out at the drop of a hat. I mean, she'd rip you a brand new, three-bedroom, two-bath, double-wide asshole. No problem.
- Crazy creditsBefore the main credits roll, photos of the real-life Bernie and Marjorie together are shown, along with a brief video of Bernie Teide talking with Jack Black.
- Alternate versionsAccording to the Technical specs link for the film, there are two different versions of this movie: one running 1 hr 39 min (99 min), and the other for 1 hr 44 min (104 min) (USA).
- SoundtracksLove Lifted Me
Written by James Rowe and Howard E. Smith
Performed by The Florida Boys
Courtesy of World Entertainment
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
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.
- MattyGibbs
- Dec 8, 2014
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $9,206,470
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $85,805
- Apr 29, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $10,173,061
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1