-
Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Promised Land -
Disney, Hitchcock, and Marilyn Flying Hi ... -
Reacher Coming to DVD and Blu-ray -
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-Django Unchain ... -
John Ford's Favorite Film
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-The Impossible
Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Hyde Park on Huds ...
MAKING FILM SCHOLARSHIP FUN
Now on DVD/Blu-ray—This Is 40
Playing Nationwide: On the Road
HOORAY FOR 1933—EIGHTY YEARS LATERBernie—movie review
Black plays the title character, who prepares bodies for their final viewing at a funeral parlor in Carthage, Texas and prides himself on his work. An outgoing fellow, he is well-liked throughout the community, where the subject of homosexuality never enters the conversation. MacLaine portrays a wealthy woman who is, by all accounts, the meanest person in town. No one has a good word to say about her, and no one can—or even wants to—get close to her…until Bernie enters her life.
That said, the less you know about Bernie before you see it the more you will enjoy the process of discovery that Linklater and co-writer Skip Hollandsworth had in mind. It was Hollandsworth’s 1998 article in Texas Monthly about the almost unbelievable real-life doings in the town of Carthage that inspired the Austin-based filmmaker to pursue this as a film project, which turned into a labor of love.
Linklater also cleverly integrates footage of real-life citizens who remember the real-life characters played by Black and MacLaine, further blurring the line between documentary and dramatization. (The woman who smokes up a storm while casting aspersions on MacLaine’s character is played by costar Matthew McConaughey’s mother.)
Bernie is both entertaining and continually surprising; that’s a welcome combination in my book.
Email Updates
Latest Tweets
-
RT @leonardmaltin: 'Before Midnight' is never uninteresting…but it doesn’t flow as easily or seem as organic as the first two films http://t.co/6ZzpthAQRh
Posted 1 hour ago -
RT @ParamountAustin: .@LeonardMaltin tonight w/ LADY FOR A DAY 35mm screening from Frank Capra's vault! Show Preview via @gobarraza : http://t.co/7ugtLtkx2B
Posted 1 hour ago -
Ugh. Was afraid of that. MT @leonardmaltin: The Hangover 3 is a dreary, lamebrain comedy that ruins whatever fond memories we had of the 1st
Posted 1 hour ago -
It's rare that @leonardmaltin can't find something nice to say about a movie. Hangover 3 is one of those times. http://t.co/3vVxY7QiUa
Posted 1 hour ago
Monthly Archives
Most "Liked"
-
Greta's New Wave: Frances Halike0 -
In Search Of ‘The Searchers’like0 -
Fast & Furious 6like0 -
The Hangover Part IIIlike0 -
Before Midnightlike0
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  |
 |  |
2 Comments
Charles Haas | May 15, 2012 6:48 PM
"Bernie" may "defy "pigeonholing," but this multivalent quality isn't necessarily a boon to the film.
"Fans of Christopher Guest and Best in Show are advised to buy their tickets now to Richard Linklaterâs new film, Bernie. Fans of Richard Linklater and his films, especially those of us who adore his films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, are advised to stay away. Even those of us who enjoyed his more commercial, though nonetheless amusing, The School of Rock, are advised to think twice.
Bernie is a mockumentary that details the true story (in this case the accuracy of the story telling is not disputed) of a widely beloved assistant funeral home director, Bernie (Jack Black) in the small East Texas town of Carthage who befriends an older widow, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) after her husband passes, despite her ornery, unfriendly demeanor; she is described as a âbitchâ by a local woman of a certain age in an interview, one of many with real residents of Carthage, creating a kind of documentary inside the mockumentary superstructure. Though, the critical apparatus could be viewed in reverse. This mise en abîme does not bring any greater truth to the enterprise, but remains dogged by that saddest of adjectives: âquirky.â..."
See full review on my blog:
http://lejournaldecharleshaas.com/2012/05/15/bernie-cannot-say-no-you-should-film-review-of-bernie/
Sonny Carl Davis | May 10, 2012 2:54 PM
Thank you for your kind words. I am truly humbled.- SCD