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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Bernie (2012): Nice Guy, Killer


Bernie was kind of a hit little movie in the Bay Area in early Summer this year, and perhaps in L.A as well. Apparently not so much elsewhere, as its total box office just topped 9 million dollars, barely covering production costs. Now that it’s been released on DVD, my guess is that it will be discovered by a wider audience and do reasonably well. It’s not a great flick, but it certainly has its charms.

Bernie stars Jack Black as the title character, an ambitious (in a good way) undertaker in the small East Texas town of Carthage (population ~ 7000), a place where everyone knows everybody. Bernie comforts the widows, mentors students, helps his neighbors, sings at funerals, in church and community theater, and generally exemplifies good citizenship and good  old fashioned Christian charity and values. Everybody loves Bernie – even though his manner seems a little swishy and his sexual orientation is a subject of gossipy debate. He even wins over the wealthy sourpuss widow, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), whom most everyone else in town (including her family) considers a mean old bitch. But Bernie becomes her friend, then her companion, then her personal manager, and eventually, when her bitch spirit reasserts itself and becomes over-possessive and disrespectful of Bernie, he kills her. If you thought such a deed would defuse the townfolk’s high regard for this guy, you’d be mistaken.

Did I mention this is a true story?  Well, more or less, although its treatment of the events of Bernie Tiede’s story is comedic, rather than dramatic.

My little plot summary is not really a spoiler. Bernie is neither a thriller nor a whodunit. It’s a lighthearted, playful movie archly exploring the various characters in Carthage and their reactions to Bernie before and after his dark, desperate deed. Black does a terrific job playing against type as Bernie, a fellow who is pretty much the antithesis of the brash, vulgar cool-guy dude he usually portrays. MacLaine is excellent, as usual,  playing Mrs Nugent very believable  as a haughty southern rich lady. MatthewMcConaughey,born and bred in Texas, is convincing (and funny) as Danny Buck, the D.A. who – to the amazement of his constituency - actually wants to prosecute poor Bernie for his crime. 

The story, written and directed by the estimable Richard Linklater, unfolds in quasi documentary style, and its greatest pleasures derive from the interview-style commentary of the Carthaginians, most of whom are unknown actors – if they are actors at all.

Bernie will not change your life, but it just might provide a pleasant evening’s amusement. It is rated PG-13, and is suitable for the whole family (although probably of no interest for kids under 11 or 12).

Available on DVD and Blueray from NetFlix and streaming via Amazon Instant Video.

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