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.
