Bernie

Now, if you read this drivel I call a blog, you might remember that I did a review on Michael Winterbottom's film Trishna and I cited Winterbottom as one of the most interesting and diverse directors around at the moment. Well, either I've found the American equivalent or this dude surpasses him in diversity. I have only seen two of Richard Linklater's films (well, three now), School of Rock and A Scanner Darkly. I think you can see just from those two that Linklater is a very eclectic director. But I'm not here to talk about Linklater's career, I was merely using the fact that he was the director of Bernie, which is the film I am reviewing (you might have noticed the title), as a pathway to write the introduction. But I'm fairly sure that's gone tits up, so I'll get on with the synopsis instead.

Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede (Jack Black) the assistant mortician for Leggit Funeral Homes, is a very friendly and amicable member of Carthage society. Always eager to help those less fortunate, Bernie is very popular among the old widows of the town, and it is at her husbands funeral where he meets Majorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) the richest and grumpiest widow out of all of them. At first just checking to make sure she is alright, Bernie calls on her numerous times and eventually the two become inseperable. They travel around the world together and, gradually, Majorie becomes more and more dependent on Bernie, and begins to drag him away from his work and other social commitments. This dependency takes it toll on the overly extroverted Bernie. Then, suddenly, Marjorie is gone and Bernie is back to his old social self. The townsfolk of Carthage don't worry about Marjorie until 9 months later, when she is discovered dead in her freezer, and Bernie is arrested, much to the surprise of the town.

I didn't know this was based on a true story, Linklater was inspired by an article he read called "Midnight in the Garden of East Texas". It's almost too unbelievable to be a true story. I know the synopsis I just wrote makes it seem like this could really happen, but it's both the characters and general reaction from the town that makes this a little more unrealistic. Linklater scatters actual interviews from actual residents of the actual Carthage. (Though a lot of the dialogue was taken from the actual article.) This gives the film a mockumentary type feel, as the townspeople are just so over the top. And especially when you throw Matthew McConaughey as District Attorney Danny Buck. But the weirdest thing about this film is it's not really about Bernie at all, it's about the town reaction to his crime (Oh, right, spoilers. Sorry).

No one in Carthage, except for Danny Buck, believes that Bernie killed Mrs. Nugent, even though he confessed to it when he was arrested. And it's only after seeing the film that you start to think about all the issues that it raised. Is Bernie a bad person because he killed someone, or is he a good person because he helped so many people with the money he 'stole' from Mrs. Nugent? Or is the town in the wrong for siding with a criminal because they are simply judging him from previous experiences? We see the events through the eyes of the town, and in the end the town becomes the biggest character of the film. And it is through them that we come to sympathise with Bernie.

Or at least we would. This is an odd film in which you don't really feel any emotional connection to the two main characters. Bernie is built as such a good person by the town, that in all honesty you can't believe it and so he becomes this idea of a person rather than a real person. I didn't care a bit about what happened to Mrs. Nugent, and it wasn't because she was a mean spirited character. It was because the townspeople didn't mention her once after she had been killed. The real life Danny Buck commented during the events "It's almost as if an old woman wasn't shot in the back 4 times." That prettty much sums up the towns opnion.

I have to say that I am a big fan of both Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine, and this is defnitely the best thing that Jack Black has done (except for maybe School of Rock). I hate the fact that after High Fidelity he just kept getting type-cast as this rocker/slacker who was slightly more manic than everyone around him. This finally gives him a chance to show how good he is, and I would love to see him in a musical one of these days. MacLaine is excellent, as always, though she feels a little underused, but that's mainly because her character was so small. Matthew McConaughey was also really good, and I have to say it's the funniest thing I've seen him in in a long time. But the best part of the film was definitely the townspeople. You see them, and see their mannerisms and you start laughing already. Then they speak. That Texan drawl, the southern slang that they use. And the things they say! "That Majorie Nugent had her nose so high in the air, she could drown in a rainfall." Brilliant!

This was a hard film to talk about, but I would definitely recommend it. If you liked "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (and I did) then this is almost like a parody of it, even down to moving the trial to a different part of the state in order for it to be fair. It poses some good issues that come once the film is finished, and while you're watching it is mildly funny, a little dark at times, but still funny. It is the only time where different sections of the cinema laughed at different parts of the film. Jack Black is brilliant in this, and he's worth the admission price alone. So, yeah, there's nothing more I can say. Go see it! Until next time readers, where I will attempt to tackle an artsy French film. Wish me luck!