In the tiny, rural town of Carthage, TX, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede was one of the town's most beloved residents. He taught Sunday school, sang in the church choir and was always willing to lend a helping hand. Everyone loved and appreciated Bernie, so it came as no surprise when he befriended Marjorie Nugent, an affluent widow who was as well known for her sour attitude as her fortune. Bernie frequently traveled with Marjorie and even managed her banking affairs. Marjorie quickly became fully dependant on Bernie and his generosity and Bernie struggled to meet her increasing demands. Bernie continued to handle her affairs, and the townspeople went months without seeing Marjorie. The people of Carthage were shocked when it was reported that Marjorie Nugent had been dead for some time, and Bernie Tiede was being charged with the murder.
Set in Carthage, East Texas, the true-life story follows Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede (Jack Black), a happy-go-lucky member of the community. He's about as well-liked as they come and the type of guy who would never hurt a fly. Bernie, a local mortician, is also a mystery. The only people he has any known relationships with are the old widows he comforts. Are his intentions sexual? The film doesn't say. When the most disliked member of his community, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), loses her husband, Bernie tries to prove she isn't the horrid person everyone makes her out to be.For a while, Bernie proves himself right. After a rough introduction, Marjorie and Bernie become "partners." They do everything together. Like Bernie's previous connections to widows, the nature of his relationship with Marjorie is unknown. What is known is how inseparable the two are, at least until their relationship takes a downward spiral. At some point, for whatever reason, Marjorie begins to r un Bernie's life, treating him like a child and torturing him in the littlest ways possible. One day, Bernie snaps and he kills Marjorie in a quick burst of violence.
Even with that dark turn of the events, there's always a high level of empathy and care shown for the titular lead. Jack Black makes you love this murderer, and without ever feeling uncomfortable about it. There's such a gentle charisma and warmness to Bernie. You laugh at his expressions and child-like worldview, but you laugh out of love for this good-hearted guy. The film tries to question whether all of Bernie's motives are well-intentioned, but it's hard to dismiss that the Bernie we see is an all-around great guy.But perhaps that's the point. Maybe Linklater wants to us to completely scoff at the idea of Bernie having a monster in him, like the residents of the town he resides in. Linklater builds a genuine sense of community using a faux-documentary approach, and the director gets you on the side of those Carthage residents: Bernie's a terrific guy and Marjorie Nugent is pure evil.Linklater has the film represent the views, rumors, and ideas of the residents of Cart hage. The only character who sees things for what they are is Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey), a self-serious but comical DA who serves as the semi-moral compass of the film. To him, Bernie committed murder, and that's all there is to it. When Davidson enters the picture it becomes somewhat of "trial" movie. At one point it seems as if the film's slowing down, but then Davidson gives the greatest pronunciation of Les Misrables you'll ever hear, infusing the highest amount of energy into the film.
Davidson isn't the straight man of the film, so there remains a consistency of goofiness all throughout the more serious matters. Linklater's film isn't a deep psychological examination on what will drive a good man crazy, so if you're looking for that dark indie drama, go elsewhere. Instead he's made a movie about funny people going through a not-so-funny situation, not an easy tone to pull off but Linklater does it just right.By the end, Bernie will raise discussion as to which side of the coin you agree with. Yes, the character committed murder, but he is clearly no menace to society. However, perhaps I wouldn't think that if Bernie wasn't such a charming and sweet character. Maybe if he was a creepy or awkward guy I would solely see him as a murderer, and not a great guy who did something bad. It's a thought-provoking topic Bernie raises, and the film achieves that through plenty of laughs and heart.In the summer of 1997, 40-year-old Bernie Tiede was arrested for the m urder the previous year of 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent, a multimillionaire heiress with whom he had been living. No one in the tight-knit, religious town could believe it, as Bernie was considered the nicest, most considerate man in the world, especially as he had been able to charm and disarm the widely detested Marjorie, who hadn't talked to her own offspring in years.
Working with co-writer Skip Hollandsworth, whose Texas Monthly article served as the basis for the script, Linklater presents Bernie through the eyes of the citizens of Carthage, literally so, as a vast array of genuine locals, mostly older folk, offer up interview-style comments throughout to illuminate aspects of the main characters. While some of these remarks are amusing for the opinionated, down-home tenor, Linklater relies upon them far too much, to the point where they seem like a convenient crutch to avoid dramatizing issues and make Bernie feel more like a docudrama than it should.Introduced at the outset as "an artist in the embalming room" after he arrives in town to take the job of assistant funeral director at the local mortuary, Bernie is an immaculately groomed gentleman with impeccable diction and a mincing walk who often places his clasped hands on his large belly when he talks. Endlessly solicitous of everyone he encounters and ever-ready with the right w ords for the bereaved, he has a particular appeal for the little old ladies of the small town where everyone knows everyone else, even if his sexual orientation remains the subject of considerable local debate. Watch free movies online
"All the widows in town had a crush on Bernie," one witness confides, so it is regarded with some astonishment when he becomes close to Marjorie (Shirley MacLaine), the universally reviled old crab apple who deigns to speak to no one. Slowly melted by Bernie's extravagant attention, Marjorie soon has him move into her mansion, the walls of which are festooned with the full bodies of large hunted animals, takes him on extravagant trips and writes her grown children out of her will, leaving everything to Bernie.With Marjorie's murder at the 50-minute point, the tone unavoidably shifts, but more from the turn of events than from any stylistic control the director engineers. For nine months, the always reclusive Marjorie is barely missed but, when her remains are finally discovered, Bernie is arrested and tried by wily D.A. Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey).The material offers possibilities for all manner of artistic approaches: Deep black comedy, mordant character stu dy, a look at social mores and hypocrisy, a consideration of legal and religious attitudes. Black's marvelously judged performance, which is drippingly ripe but pitched just enough toward seriousness to be entirely credible, brings to mind such previous high-wire acts as, on the benign side, Charles Laughton's priceless turn as the obsequious butler in Ruggles of Red Gap and, in the malevolent direction, Alec Guinness' memorable predator in The Ladykillers.
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