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Bernie

6/15/2015

26 Comments

 

3.17
B+

  • Linklater's documentary-style filmmaking for Bernie is absolutely what made the movie for me - Sean
  • It was also pleasant to see a non-skiddy-beeping-bodda-bopping Jack Black - Bryan
  • There's a semi-gross feeling here of dancing on an old woman's grave - Jon
Picture
Initial Review by Drew

Possessive, obsessive, jealous.  Quirky, endearing, naïve.

The first three words accurately described Marjorie Nugent, as the other three for Berne Tiede.

Bernie was a dark film mixed with a compelling yet true story. An assistant mortician, who was beloved by the people of a small, east Texas town, was taken in by a rich widow, whom no one liked, and murdered her.  That is the basis of it but there is more to it.

Tiede took pride in his work.  He wanted every family to have a respectful funeral and to be honest, families appreciate that and he, apparently, did it well.  What became Bernie’s downfall was one of his finest qualities; compassion. According to Don Leggett, Bernie cared for bereaving, female widows (DLOL; dear little old ladies) by giving them too much attention.  When he met Marge Nugent, Bernie got more than he bargained.

Nugent was not only disliked in the community due to her cold personality but also by her family.  As the story went, she had an estranged relationship with her immediate and extended family.  She rarely, if ever, talked to her son, who lived in the panhandle around Amarillo, and her sister, who lived in the area.  To further the point, her family members sued her for money.  That kind of relationship was reptilian cold.

When she met Bernie, however, she saw someone who could be controlled.  Perhaps she enjoyed his company and Bernie certainly was not fighting the attention – at first – but predators do not mix with other predators.   They need a prey and Nugent’s was Bernie.

That was Richard Linklater’s and Skip Hollandsworth’s perspective and it was what we saw.  There was, however, some fairness to the side of Nugent’s family.  Danny “Buck” Davidson was hounded by the locals who wanted that sweet Bernie to not go to jail but he held his ground (side note: Is it me or does anyone else notice how McConaughey is casted as someone in law?).  To the Nugent’s, Marge was Bernie’s prey and he became accustomed to a certain standard of living and since he was now her benefactor, why not kill her?  The jury agreed.

A friend of mine told me about this film and anytime Jack Black is in anything, I have Will Ferrell syndrome.  How stupid is it and how many times does he do something unfunny?  When I saw Black using his musical talents in a way that benefited the film and he was not over the top stupid, it was breath of fresh air.  With Black, overplaying the role is tempting but Linklater knew how to balance it.

Shirley MacLaine had a limited but fantastic role.  She did not have a great amount of lines but when present in the scenes, her gravitas radiated.  MacLaine is one of the finest actors alive and in her small capacity, she made 85% of the film.  Even McConaughey was good.  He was able to project how Danny Buck was a “good – ole boy” without patronizing the viewer.

The acting was great but what was most enjoyable was the way Linklater told the story.  It was a different and interesting approach to storytelling.  To use interview style of “locals” to narrate is almost ingenious.  It played to the caricature of Texans but that worked.  Not to mention, it was not far off the mark.

Linklater brought in a goofy, over the top actor and tamed him.  He put two Oscar winners in supporting roles and made it work.  That is great recipe for a good story.

Grade: A-


26 Comments
Sean
6/15/2015 03:38:44 pm

I'll start with the word game like Drew

Engaging.

Linklater's documentary style filmmaking for Bernie is absolutely what made the movie for me. By introducing Bernie, Marge and others through the lens of the people of Carthage who both loved Bernie and loathed Marge we got to know Bernie the way they know him. I can imagine the same story being told through traditional movie making means and multiple scenarios unfold- we could easily become annoyed by Bernie's quirks- despite all the screen time Jack Black was being served to the viewer in quick bits and pieces in between more townsfolk interviews. My favorite was the pair of ladies that 1 talked and the other chuckled awkwardly the whole time. That chuckles lady deserves a Best Supporting Actress nomination because she played the "i've never been on tv before yokel" to the absolute apex. Runner up goes to the guy who described the jury made up of townspeople where they moved the trial- “They had more tattoos than teeth and not a brain between them all—and they’re supposed to decide a thing like this? I wouldn’t let them work on my car!” No matter how hillbilly and small town you are you can always find someone else to consider more hillilly small town.

Seeing that my favorite 2 characters were interview subjects that is enough to tell me Linklater's direction was the highlight of the movie. The name cast was fine I wouldn't say they should threaten the MMCs but they didn't take anything away from the movie. I would say Marge's arc was a hair off for me. She started cold and evil as the townspeople described then really seemed to soften from Bernie's presence before growing paranoid and angry and evil again. Perhaps the softening was aided by being partially shown from Bernie's gentle perspective so she hadn't softened as much as she seemed.

Bernie had been in my Netflix queue for about a year so I'm glad Drew picked it because I was probably never going to finally watch it.
Very well done, expertly directed with an original style. I didn't love it though so I can't give it an A.

B+

Reply
Drew
6/16/2015 04:03:23 pm

What about it did you not love? Was the film too reliant on the townsfolk conversation? Too manipulative?

Reply
Sean
6/16/2015 04:36:53 pm

Just subjective judging

Drew
6/16/2015 04:49:42 pm

Well yeah, but I'm asking what it is.

Sean
6/16/2015 05:12:21 pm

It's like how I like having sex with your mom but I don't totally love it. No real reason.

It could've been funnier I guess if you need something. As I mentioned the townsfolk was the best part. Without them Bernie's quirks wouldve grown tiresome.

Jon
6/16/2015 05:22:44 pm

There goes Drew's mom's unique page views.

Drew
6/17/2015 10:49:52 am

I asked an actual question and get a mom joke? Lame.

Sean
6/17/2015 03:12:12 pm

Boo hoo it was engaging and well made but not entertaining enough to be an A

Drew
6/17/2015 03:41:17 pm

No need to cry, Sean. It's just a movie.

Bryan
6/17/2015 04:08:46 pm

"it was engaging and well made but not entertaining enough to be an A" perfect Twitter review

Mindy
6/15/2015 03:39:34 pm

B

Reply
Braden
6/15/2015 03:48:41 pm

Dead Body! Cool. A!

Reply
Sean
6/15/2015 04:20:44 pm

somebody doesn't know Braden too well, he's much like Carollas boy Sonny-very sensitive. Doesn't want to see Jurassic World because it looks scary

Reply
Braden
6/16/2015 01:38:25 am

Dad, I grew up in Evansville - the hood shows you some stuff. If you're not scared of a 50 foot, genetically engineered dinosaur, something has gone terribly wrong.

Sean
6/16/2015 05:55:34 am

I'll remember that next time you start crying when mommy tells you you tie your shoes wrong

Kellen
6/15/2015 03:57:57 pm

Habbdidicmdnnbvvvdieieokeneb. D D nx bb D. E e ejdkke. A e. E D D .

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Bryan
6/16/2015 05:40:18 pm

I'll first echo praise for the half documentary, half comedy/drama here. Bernie was an incredibly well put together movie. The folksiness of the interviews and their authenticity had me hooked from the beginning.

It was also pleasant to see a non-skiddy beeping bodda bopping Jack Black. He was engaging and truly took on the role of Bernie. Shirley Maclaine as Marojorie was good, but Black was better. Like in most movies, I found McConaughey to be distracting. It's almost like this was his character from Dallas Buyers Club before going on drugs. He tries to be serious, but I don't buy him as a sheriff. I have a hard time buying him in any role and this is no exception.

I knew the story going in, but that did not take away from Linklater setting up the murder of Marjorie. Linklater lead me to like Bernie, dreading what I knew was coming. Even after killing Marjoie, it was difficult to root against anything but the lightest of sentences for Bernie.

I'd watch this again, but it doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the table, and McConaughey is climbing my ladder of unwatchable. I'll go B.

Reply
Sean
6/17/2015 04:32:03 am

Good thing he's not a sheriff, he's the DA. Half letter grade right?

Reply
Bryan
6/17/2015 08:05:33 am

DA, sheriff, CEO, anything but southern philosopher seems off.

Jon
6/17/2015 05:06:24 pm

When it comes to Richard Linklater, Bernie is more like it. He's got three distinct flavors. There's the scruffy philosophizing romantic of Waking Life and the Before series that we have experience with. There's the one-for-them director for hire of School of Rock and Bad News Bears. Finally, there's the Texas-Forever director of Dazed and Confused and Boyhood. Bernie falls into that last category, and what Linklater is able to insert into this movie and those other two is a genuine sense of place and a love for local idiosyncrasy. It's that Linklater touch that separates Bernie from the courtroom dramedy at its base.

The inclusion of the townspeople interviews is what makes Bernie unique. I love Christopher Guest movies, both versions of the Office, and Parks and Rec, so that faux-documentary style works on me. As the Greek chorus championing Bernie and condemning Margie, Linklater doesn't reduce them to stereotypes or laughingstocks. I don't know if those scenes were ad-libbed, or Linklater scripted them, but either way, I believe them. Standouts were Sonny Davis, who gave the excellent description of Texas, and the brassy broad who called it like she saw it, played by mother of Matthew, Kay McConaughey. She especially seemed like the perfect grandma, the kind that would pour your 16-year-old self a whiskey sour while asking about your life. I never tired of hearing any of them tell stories. Linklater is an Austin guy, but he seems to have a feel for the entire state, including those parts that would run him down for living with liberal fruitcakes.

In the lost podcast episode that Drew and I did, we talked about Jack Black's persona in his most famous movies. While Drew claims he's largely exhausted by Black's mania, I can go either way on it. Something like Tropic Thunder or Be Kind Rewind gets tiresome as he's more exaggerated in those, but when his energy is used for good like in School of Rock or Kung Fu Panda, he's infectiously fun. Linklater finds the right balance for Black here, as Bernie has his fair share of quirks and mannerisms but it's also easy to see why the town loves him. It's the kind of director-comic actor synergy that most reminded me of Adam Sandler and Paul Thomas Anderson in Punch Drunk Love, wherein the movie deeply understands the most human element behind a comedian's persona. In Punch Drunk Love, PTA tapped into the impotent rage underneath Sandler's best characters, and here, Linklater connects with Black's capacity for joy through outward expression, particularly through music. Bernie rapturously singing in his car while the opening credits are playing is right in line with Black belting out Tenacious D songs. Black's Bernie is at root, a decent and generous guy, and I think this is the best performance of his career.

Of course, the movie's about the unassailable crime that decent guy committed. Drew and I also talked about what the movie thought of Bernie, and it's hard to tell. Margie is depicted exactly as the townspeople see her i.e. a mean old bitch. The most generous way to see her is as lonely, but she's lonely for a good reason. Bernie is certainly being compensated for all the time he ends up spending with her, but there's something deeply sad about this man, with his gift for making people happy, stuck folding granny panties in isolation. When he does shoot Margie, I absolutely buy his devastation and panic right after, but then Linklater undercuts it by immediately placing an elaborate musical number as the next scene. Additionally, he's only able to keep Margie's body hidden for so long because no one wants to see her, with the exception of the stockbroker who only misses her commissions. If an old lady is killed in her garage and nobody misses her, is a crime deserving of lifetime imprisonment warranted?

Reply
Jon
6/17/2015 05:07:23 pm

That last statement might sound inherently self-evident, but in the movie's major flaw, it makes the answer more difficult than it should be. Margie should've been more integral to the film. There's a semi-gross feeling here of dancing on an old woman's grave. It takes McConaughey's Danny Buck to be the lone defender of the deceased, and he does it by turning Bernie into an effete who thinks he's better than everyone. This leads into the minor flaw. Linklater is so aggressively on the side of the Carthage townspeople that not only can they be trusted about Margie, but they're also probably right about the hicks of St. Augustine. The people he cast to sit in that jury box are there on purpose, taking a break from riding around Wal-Mart in scooters to earn some extra cash which will be spent at Wal-Mart. Linklater has so much respect for the Carthaginians, and so little for the Augustinians. It seemed mean in a movie that was anything but.

Bernie also had some practical lessons. First, don't let a stockbroker charge you fees for something you could easily do yourself. Second, no matter how nice funerary services people are, they're still salesman trying to pretend there's something evil about rotting. A Donnie-style coffee can is good enough for me, after a short stint in an anatomy lab. That whole business is gross.

Bernie gets a B, mostly because it's a fun movie. Despite it's mockumentary style, I do think it's pretty small, telling a true-crime story in a jaunty fashion that doesn't elevate it out of that pretty staid genre. I often think about the TV-news-magazine versions of these kinds of stories, and Bernie Tiede's story would slot in well with Stone Phillips telling the tale. After the disastrous (with us anyways) Waking Life, I'm glad Linklater got a second chance with this group, as he's made my favorite film each of the last two years. He's supposedly making a baseball movie that might make it in time for a fall release, so maybe he can go for three in a row, though it'd have to be a helluva baseball movie to unseat Fury Road.

Reply
Drew
6/18/2015 09:47:30 am

My favorite "interview" was when Sonny described the five regions of Texas. He is not far off the mark and the whole description is hilarious. Loved it.

Reply
Shane
6/18/2015 05:06:31 pm

The good news for us is that we're most likely not going to die for a long-ass time. We'll be hardwired, no doubt. It sucks we'll be stuck in some old bodies, but whatever.

Reply
Sean
6/19/2015 06:37:35 am

Somebody call Molnar quick for a guest post

Reply
Shane
6/18/2015 05:05:17 pm

I'm tired. Can't really muster up the energy to write a review lately. Unless you want a review of the Georgia tort law distinctions.

I wanted to like the movie more than I did. I love Jack Black. I don't know why you wouldn't. But this movie just dragged I felt. I fiddled on my phone way too much. Jack Black, of course, was excellent. But the pacing kept me out of being fully engaged.

The story was compelling and I loved the use of real people, but it just needed something more to keep it lively. Maybe Kissel is right in that the presence of Margie was missed. I really should watch it again, but I'm too tired.

B

Reply
Bobby
6/29/2015 01:12:53 pm

Oh shit, our donkey's in a ditch...

Looks like there is plenty of talk about Jack Black.. and I agree that it's refreshing to see him in a different sort of role.. yet still being able to let his quirks and personality shine. He was fantastic. Shirley McClaine was top notch too. It makes you wonder how true to life the characters were.

The half-documentary style worked for me. If I tried, I might have been able to pick out the actors from the real townspeople, but it was all presented in a way and pace that leaves no reason for the viewer to look that hard. The interviews brought a sense of reality and Texas feel to the movie.

While there were a few laughs, it did feel like it needed a touch more humor. Maybe that's just a side effect of Jack Black and what we've come to expect with him.

The story itself is pretty interesting.. although it felt like it ran out of steam toward the end and the trial didn't carry the entertainment value that the first half or so of the movie did. The interviews and song during the credits brought it back a little, though.

Of course, the story gets even more interesting now since Tiede was released and gets a new sentencing trial... likely all inspired by the popularity of the film and its portrayal of how Nugent treated Tiede. And then there's an entirely different story from the family's side. In the meantime, Tiede is apparently living in a Linklater owned apartment/garage in Austin and the hearings are be postponed and such as our courts like to do.

Anyway, Bernie is an interesting story presented in an interesting way. It could have used a few more laughs and kept its momentum throughout.. and I think it would have been interesting to hear more of the Nugent's family's views (but i get that it doesn't fit the film). Still, really good movie... B+

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