Bernie

Movie Title--  Bernie

Running Time--  1 Hour and 39 Minutes

Director--  Richard Linklater

Cast--  Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey, Brady Coleman

Based on a true story, this is the story about Bernie Tiede, an assistant funeral director in Carthage, Texas.  He becomes very close friends with a widow who is estranged from her family and has no friends but when she writes him into her will, she begins to treat him like a piece of her property and not a human.  One day he snaps and shoots her in the back, then covers up the murder.

Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is a mild mannered assistant funeral director working in Carthage, Texas.  Everyone in the town loves Bernie; he is the kind of man that would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.  Bernie tended to be in debt a lot but was always donating  something to someone, always looking out for other before caring for himself.  Bernie meets a mean old widow, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), at the funeral of her late husband and befriends her, constantly checking in on her to make sure she is coping alright with her husband's passing.  They soon develop a close friendship and he becomes her constant companion.  

After Marjorie rewrites her will, leaving everything to Bernie, she becomes possesive and starts to treat him like he is her property instead of like a person.  One day Bernie snaps and shoots her in the back four times.  Instead of going to the police he hides her in a deep freeze and when she is finally discovered, the Carthage D.A. Danny Buck (Matthew McConaughey) asks the judge to hold the trial in a different jurisdiction because the jury pool was so bias toward Bernie.

Alright, so for this movie I have to thank Max.  Who is Max you ask?  Max is this little guy that lives in my Netflix.  All joking aside, I logged into Netflix, not really sure what I wanted to watch, so there is this option called "Max" and he (I say he because they use a man's voice) presented me with this movie based off what I felt like watching and what I had rated a few other movies I had seen.  "Bernie" was Max's pick, so I decided to give it a try.

"Bernie" is probably not a movie I would have picked on my own and honestly, it wasn't the best movie I have ever seen but it was funny in a dark way.  First and foremost, it is based off a true story.  The story of Bernie Tiede, mortician and nice guy that one day snaps and kills his constant companion is completely true, the killing happened in 1996.  At his trial he testified that Marjorie was abusive to him and he snapped.  He put her in the freezer because he wanted to preserve her so one day he could give her a proper burial. 

Jack Black plays Bernie and I have to say, I thought his performance was pretty good.  He sings throughout the movie and it is mostly serious, gospel type music, which anyone knows from watching a Jack Black film, that is not typical of him.  He helps transform this story that would otherwise be tragic for both parties, into a story that is amusing and light-hearted, that is before the murder anyway.  Shirley MacLaine plays Marjorie and at first the viewer is thinking although she is much older than Bernie, perhaps this could work out for them.  Then she flips the switch from a sometimes grumpy old lady who likes spending time with this man to a complete, control driven bitch.  The person that shocked me the most was Matthew McConaughey.  If I didn't know what his voice sounded like, I probably would have never known who the actor playing D.A. Danny Buck was.  He looks nothing like himself in this part and he puts on a pretty good performance.  

The last thing I want to leave you with is this: this movie is not set up in a typical fashion.  The whole thing is done like a documentary with paid actors instead of actually being a documentary.  They had actors portraying the people of the town and giving on screen interviews as if the film crew was actually going around the town getting the interviews.  It was an odd way of story telling but I think it helped move the film along some.

This film isn't a typical pick but I would say if you are looking for a dark comedy and you like Jack Black, this may be a pretty good pick for you.  Just remember that this is not really a film that everyone is going to watch but for the few people out there that is looking for something a little different and you need a little dark comedy in your life, this one is a good one for you.  Don't Forget the Popcorn!