Review of Bernie (2012) by Jonathan B — 19 Mar 2013

Bernie is slow to start off with, is confusing in the way that its constructed as a semi-documentary and in my opinion was low on laughs for a black comedy. I felt it succeeded more as a drama but was falsely advertised which resulted in there being some disappointment in my opinion. But the way it chronicled Bernie Tiede himself and Jack Black's excellent performance is enough to ensure that the audience enjoys watching.

Bernie is Jack Black's finest hour so far, as he portrays such a sweetly effeminate character that we feel so sorry for regardless of being a convicted killer, and if anything we begin to believe that he didn't deserve anything close to his punishment because his characterisation makes him such a sweet guy and nothing but likeable, and so we have so much empathy for a character who is a confessed killer, and Bernie strongly makes it seem that he was doing the world a favour, ending the misery of a woman who nobody cared for until the world turned around and changed its mind, and Bernie suffered cause of it. Jack Black's performance as Bernie Tiede practically turns your world is judgement upside down. He even has sole good singing moments in there.

It's also nice to see Shirley MacLaine active again in a role that matches her profile but is nothing like her usual characters. She portrays Marjorie Nugent well and never resorts to being forcefully stereotypical, but rather lets the audience perceive her that way while her character actually develops more into that state so that the audience has a confident dislike of her and greater empathy for Bernie, and the result is that Shirley MacLaine just ends up making Jack Black's performance even better, so Bernie's main two actors never let the audience down.

Along with the performances, Bernie is an entirely new way of chronicling a killer in a strange yet fascinating way, and it really stirs up your emotions well, and that's practically the whole reason to watch Bernie. But take my word, this is a drama with complicated exploration to it. Take that, and know it when you see Bernie.