BERNIE (2012) *** ½

At its heart, director Richard Linklater’s Bernie is a true crime story.  It’s a smart and darkly funny black comedy that caters to the demands of the genre but is told through Linklater’s distinct prism.  He knows that the best true crime movie characters don’t start out as villains.  Part of the fun of the film comes from seeing what drives such a seemingly nice guy like Bernie to murder.

Only Linklater could’ve done a true crime thriller this way.  He uses real townspeople who knew Bernie as interview subjects, much like a documentarian would.  They provide commentary on the action as it unfolds, with actors dramatizing the events.  It’s a perfect blend of reel and real.  It’s part documentary and part re-enactment.  Even though it doesn’t sound like something Linklater would be interested in, the results are very much in his wheelhouse.

Jack Black stars as Bernie, the assistant mortician in a small East Texas town.  Bernie is an unassuming, effeminate, emphatic, and all-around good Christian who is well-loved in the town, especially by the elderly ladies.  Bernie is such a nice guy that he even charms the usually venomous widow (Shirley MacLaine), who eventually takes a shine to him.  She lavishes him with gifts and has him accompany her on expensive trips in exchange for companionship.  Even a nice guy like Bernie has his breaking point though.  As she becomes crueler and her grip more suffocating, Bernie finally snaps and does away with the old broad once and for all.

Black is great as Bernie.  It’s a real showcase for him.  Not only does he get to explore a nice range of comedy and drama, he gets to do a lot of singing too (everything from hymns to showtunes).  It’s Matthew McConaughey who steals the movie though as the overly anxious prosecutor who’s ready to railroad Bernie.  What makes his scenes work is that the townsfolk are all on Bernie’s side, only because they all know just how much of a bitch MacClaine’s character was.  

Speaking of MacLaine, her character is the only real debit as she’s basically one-note.  It’s nothing she hasn’t done in other movies like Guarding Tess or Steel Magnolias.  Maybe if she wasn’t such an old biddy, it would’ve added some moral ambiguity to the picture.  As it is, you’re practically rooting for Bernie to shoot her from the get-go.  Still, that doesn’t detract too much from the overall fun of the movie.