Review of Bernie (2012) by Brett C — 04 Oct 2014

Included In Lists:

Strong Performances - Jack Black.

Review In A Nutshell:

Bernie would mark as the third film I have seen from director, Richard Linklater; with the first two being School of Rock and Dazed and Confused. Those two films are examples of near to perfect productions that I was convinced that Linklater was a genius who potentially could do no wrong in filmmaking; especially since some of the films I haven't seen from him are so well received, Before trilogy and Boyhood. I was excited to watch this film because I have a cousin who seems to bring this film up almost every time I see him for the last year or so, recommending it and stating the positive aspects of it. Taking in my cousin's words, the hype around the director and my experience with Linklater's previous films, one cannot blame me for having such high expectations for Bernie.

This film is based off a true story located in a Texan town, Carthage, of a man, Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede, who has committed murder on his wealthy and widowed companion, Marjorie Nugent. Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, who wrote a magazine article of the event, have crafted a screenplay that explores and explains the relationship between the two individuals and recounting an accurate description of the event. Linklater lets the story flow in an a sort of documentary, interview style that I felt was one-sided as he uses members of the Carthage community to describe the story and the characters, which states that Bernie was a wonderful, generous and kind man, while Marjorie was the complete opposite. Linklater does not however have the film be completely biased, as during re-enactments, we do gain some insight in the cast's performance, particularly Shirley MacLaine's. We see that there are some factors that shape these characters' personalities and Linklater lets them feel human rather than symbols to address the film's themes of injustice and corruption of the soul. Though the film is pegged as a comedy, the film also takes its plot quite seriously and the film wants us to give the characters the attention and respect that they deserve in order for the audience to gain the most out of it.

The film's unique approach in telling a true story should have easily won me over and kept me interested all the way through, but sadly Linklater has let the film feels imbalanced as the interviews has reached to a point of saturation that I was not able to gain that immersive quality and instead felt a tad distant towards the characters and the emotions they go through. The interviews also provided way too much insight on the film's characters, which made the film feel too much like a documentary. If Bernie used the interview segments of the film as more of a supportive measure rather than the primary vehicle of its narrative, similar to what was executed on Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally or the therapy sequences in Doug Liman's Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I also felt that the story that we are following was formulaic in its structure, and because the film projects its characters with a skin-deep approach, it was hard to find myself heavily engaged.

The film's strongest element was in the performances of the three leading actors. Even if the film does not give them the opportunity that they deserve in fleshing out their characters, they were still able to do the best that they could, despite this limitation. Richard Linklater and Jack Black are an amazing duo. Whenever the two figures are working together, genius and amazing things come out of it. Black brought a sense of personality to his performance that description from the interview segments simply could not describe effectively. The small mannerisms that the actor provides for the role look and feel too precise and genuine that it would be difficult to argue whether or not Black was faithful to the human that he is portraying. It is easy for one to see Jack Black as a throwaway comedian lacking in any great potential, but seeing him in Bernie and reflecting back in his performance in School of Rock, made me realise that the actor is simple choosing the wrong roles and working with the wrong people. Black simply requires a person who could provide him the proper direction in order for him to channel his abilities in the most effective ways possible. If one does not believe any of the words I have said, then please watch the two Jack Black films that I have mentioned as they are simply outstanding. It is hard for me to note which of the two performances, I felt was Black's strongest as both are quite different but since I have yet seen School of Rock for quite some time, I would, for now, claim Bernie as the actor's best performance. Shirley MacLaine was also great in this, even though she does not project much, one can feel a sense of depth in her performance. The film's interviews has already dissected the role she is playing, therefore it was not necessary of her to explain it again to the audience and instead focus more towards making the role come to life; allowing Marjorie Nugnet feel like a real person. Matthew McConaughey as Danny Buck, which is the town's sheriff, was again also strong, but because of the character's limited screen time and greater performances found in his co-stars, he was not able to make a deep enough mark on me.

Bernie's demonstration of original storytelling of the true story and strong performances from its cast, allows this to become more than just the common murder tale, but due to the intense use of interview sequences in explaining the film's characters, it was difficult to for me to become emotionally engaged.