Bernie is directed by Richard Linklater. It stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. Linklater directed Black in one of his better performances-School Of Rock as well as McConaughey in his best role-Dazed & Confused. With Bernie-all four of these people strike gold. The film bounces back between an acted account of a true story and interviews with real people who were part of this story. The story is that Bernie (Black) is dating Marjorie (MacLaine) and he supposedly kills her when she becomes very, very, very mean.
The best part of the film is Black. While MacLaine and McConaughey are great-Black is the stand out star here. Black has not made a good film in years. Here-he makes a great film and provides a great performance to go along with it. McConaughey plays the town's district attorney-Danny who convicts Black as the killer. The film also features some great interviews with some of the townspeople. By far the funniest interview was a redneck man who is constantly bashing other Texas states.
The film also features an intriguing transition in Bernie. Bernie is a great guy. In fact, he is the most liked guy in town. At one point during the film a local townswoman says "that dog don't hunt" referring to him. However, after a while we get the impression that Bernie is not the greatest guy in town, or even a good guy for that matter.
The film is a very dark comedy, so if you like your humor light then you might want to skip this one. The film features a good ending that does not feel cheap or dumb. Bernie can be a little slow at times, but it works for 99.9% of the film and I highly recommend seeing it if you want to see the comeback of Jack Black.
(4 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for some violent images and brief strong language)
No comments:
Post a Comment