Ironically Unimpressed
As always, Linklater sets up a wonderful possibility but, alas, fails to deliver the punchline. Too focused on his usual indulgent voyeurism, he still manages a nicely put together set of moving images, however, it's an effort structured on a rather fiddly foundation to begin with. The story itself is not a very interesting one and the mockumentary technique employed throughout only serves to distance the viewer from the happenings rather than inviting them in.The argumentative dialogue lacks any sort of depth and the acting is unimaginative, with both Black and McConaughey bringing nothing new to the table other than their own, fatigued by now style when, unfortunately, MacLaine alone can't carry the whole film on her shoulders.Do keep in mind that the "comedy" tag attached to this movie is terribly misleading as there are no real funny moments, with most of the humorous attempts being in extremely poor taste given this is based on a true story and they are afforded in the expense of an old woman who got murdered simply for being unpleasant.Proceed at your own risk.
rzajac
I know I'm not supposed to like a flick like this because it's got all the wrong things; interviews, way too much exposition, an operatic style (simple story, drawn out to feature-length), ...and so much more.But it's such an obvious labor of love. And... What a story! It's very simple, and the moral is a direct one: Every last mother-loving one of us has within us the potential to act out that which Bernie did.Of course, there's a lot that the movie does very, very well. The most important thing, of course, is how the setup for the critical moment is cleverly designed and paced to drive home the all-important moral.Everything beyond that is icing on a strange and wonderful cake. The flick is witty and rollicking and fun. It showcases the southern, "hick" language, style, and mentality, while simultaneously humbling us by reminding us of what can be easily forgotten; that deep humanity is the heritage of all God's human creations, regardless of culture and background.I was recently reading about the film composer Nino Rota, and recalled the words of Fellini, when asked about him: "He's an angel of music". Well, Black's performance was nothing short of angelic, and I suspect that Linklater felt toward Black as Fellini did, working with Rota. This was a perfect vehicle for Black, showcasing his dancing/musical abilities, his comedic character chops and, amazingly, his ability to convincingly range into the serious drama of a deeply feeling man's moral crisis.It was great to see MacLaine here. After the shameful misuse of her in the execrable "Mitty", her fine performance in Bernie redeems her nicely.In short, a superb piece of aim-straight-for-the-heart filmic storytelling, and highly recommended.I almost never do this, but while I would normally rate this a '9' (meaning, "perfect, with minor remonstrances"), I'm marking it '10', in part to try to do my part to yank it up from the sub-'7' doldrums.All participants in this production should be very proud of their fine work.
john32935
Director Richard Linklater is known for his small movies and the quirky characters within them, as well as the realistic portraits he captures. In Bernie, Mr. Linklater captures the essence of a small Texas town and the true crime story of the bigger-than-life character loved by all.Mr. Linklater perfectly casts Jack Black (with whom he had done School of Rock) as the community's favorite citizen Bernie, Shirley MacLaine as the rich, bitter widow with whom Bernie becomes entwined, and Michael McConaughy (another Linklater alum, on the cusp of his career makeover) as the district attorney who must prosecute Bernie despite public opinion that Bernie should go free. All three stars give wonderful performances – most of all Mr. Black who restrains himself from his usual attention-grabbing antics and gives a well-controlled performance, including several songs that were quite unexpected.This beautiful character study has its moments of comedy, but it is the finely detailed performances that make it something special.
