Review of Bernie (2012) by Tim V — 27 Jan 2013

That's right, y'all, it's the School of Rock reunion between Jack Black and Richard Linklater, which is good and all, but seriously, I don't know if Black is the best choice to star in a biopic about Bernie Mac, even if his surname, Black, does pertain quite obviously to Bernie Mac, if you know what I mean; Black rhymes with Mac. Come on, people, as white as Jack Black is, I can't even attempt to make a lame, mildly racist joke about how he was picked to play a black man because his last name is Black, nor can I go on with my joking that this film is a biopic on Bernie Mac, which isn't to say that you folks should settle down your excitement to see Jack Black play black too much, because in this film, Black is playing gay, another "minority" (Just wait, the liberals haven't finished in their social reprogramming yet). Either way, Black still ended up playing a pretty different role, as opposed to Matt McConaughey, who is once again playing the smooth, but somewhat jerkish attorney, only this time, he has a Stetson hat for some reason. Actually, I joke, but now that I think about it, McConaughey has been slowing down a bit when it comes to roles like this, though I am definately noticing a new kind of theme to McConaughey's typecasting, or at least in 2012. With a cowboy stripper role in "Magic Mike", a stylish cowboy hat-wearing murderer of the South role in "Killer Joe" and a Stetson hat-wearing district attorney role in this film, it would appear as though 2012 is the year of the Stetson hat for McConaughey-hey (Speaking of gay), and quite frankly, I am just baffled that it's taken him this long to get around to such a theme, partially because it evidently has has the power to augment McConaughey's charisma, and we're talking about a handsome guy from Texas, so you know that's saying something. If nothing else, Stetson hats give McConaughey the ability to pick better films, like this one, though that might just be Jack Black's moustache, which has to at least give this film an additional .05 star, because, come on, it's Jack Black with a moustache (That probably saved "Nacho Libre" for some people). Still, not even Black's awesome moustache can shave-I mean, save this film from its shortcomings, because as far away as this film is from a crash and "Bern" (Tee-hee), there are moments that are not so rockin' (Sorry, but not even a gay Jack Black can make me not think of Black's and Linklater's last collaboration).

Underdevelopment is a misstep made by many a film, but overdevelopment truly is a rare phenomenon that can be just as, if not more exhaustingly detrimental to a film's momentum, and if ever there was a film that was overdeveloped, then it's, well Martin Scorsese's "Casino", but this film isn't exactly tight with its exposition either, flaunting a development segment that is so expository that it's taken the liberty of incorporating interview footage piece after interview footage piece to heavy-handedly emphasize backstory, and runs an almost unbelievably overlong 50 minutes, which is half of the film, so it's not like the development segment doesn't slip into the body and is gotten used to after, but the actual narrative of a massive chunk of the film suffers from exhaustingly extensive immediate exposition that does damage to steam so much that if it had somehow gone on any longer, and wasn't so opposed by the film's strong notes, the final product would have been rendered generally underwhelming. It is a fiercely long time before the film takes on a traditional narrative, and once the development segment finally wraps up, the film's rewarding value replenishes, but still goes a smidge thrown off by narrative format's jarring shifts, which are still not entirely done away with with the "immediate" development segment, as there are still times in which the film resorts to the aforementioned interview footage to heavy-handedly supplement exposition and drive unevenness into focus. Outside of the backstory segment that occupies the first 50 minutes, the film's storytelling formula isn't quite as problematic as I make it sound, yet it is problematic, nevertheless, partially because it messes with the rises and falls in plot structure, and partially because, after a while, it gets a touch repetitious. The film isn't monotonous, or even all that considerably repetitious, but it does bland things up a touch, and is made all the worse by slow spells that are, of course, hardly all that slow at all, but still momentarily tone down entertainment value just enough for you to meditate upon the aforementioned flaws, as well as the natural shortcomings in plot. This subject matter certainly has enough weight to it to make a rewarding film, as reflected by its, well, being behind a rewarding film, but this story is still just so minimalist, with plenty of opportunities to be handled blandly that are, in fact, explored on occasions in this film. The bland spells are too explored, yet they still stand, occasional though, they may be, and when they rise, the film loses momentum and focus a bit, until what you're left with is a film that is both natrual flawed and consequentitally flawed, as well as threatened by underwhelmingness. Of course, when it comes to following through with such a threat, this film doesn't quite make it, because as flawed as this film is, when it hits, as it so often does, it hits hard enough to not simply entertain thoroughly, but compel, or at least prove rather interesting.

As I said, a lot of this film's problems stem from, of all things, its narrative concept of incorporating interview footage between many a scene, as they throw off the momentum of traditional narrative and provide heavy-handed exposition, especially during the development segment that occupies a whole half of the film, but it's not like you can't enjoy the moments, because as problematic as they are, they give the film some personal touches that color things up, verify this story that would be farfetched if it wasn't remarkably true, and are, if nothing else, simply rather fascinating. Of course, the real meat of this film's narrative is the very story around which narrative is built, for although there are thin spots in this film's minimalist plot, which is even handled with the occasional convention that I neglected to mention earlier, this film's subject matter remains very intriguing, with colorful, yet dynamic themes that sparks immediate engagement value and could very well deliver a lot of impact if handled well in execution. Skip Hollandsworth and Richard Linklater do just that with this film's script, which has its issues, but, on the whole, absorbs this subject matter's color thoroughly through light wit and somewhat clever dialogue, while presenting the darker moments with a kind of intricacy that leaves it to bond with the lighter spots very comfortably and not lose much of its intrigue, which particularly intensifies when colorful characterization really plays upon thematic weight, leaving you to meditate upon this subject matter's depths as a portrait on the instability of and views on humanity. This film paints rather thought-provoking pictures at times, but more often than not, it's just an intriguing story that is played upon quite colorfully and competently Hollandsowrth's and Linklater's script, which is itself truly brought to life by one of this film's most impacting strengths: Linklater's direction, which is flawed, to be sure, getting to be a touch uneven and, to a certain degree, too restrained, but on the whole quite strong, with atmospheric liveliness that charms thoroughly, broken up by a play upon the darker and more resonant notes that really works, something near-exceptionally, to where you can firmly gather the weight of this film's story, and gain a tighter grasp on thematic weight. Linkalter could have hit a little harder with his storytelling, but he remains as audacious as always, battling back as many shortcomings as he can with a dynamic atmosphere that intrigue, entertains and altogether charms, and goes complimented by some very enjoyable performances, or at least one in particular. Don't get me wrong, people, most everyone in this cast charms, with Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey being particularly charismatically effective as, well, to be frank, jerks, but when you get down to it, the true force behind this film's cast is revelatory - yes, you heard me, "revelatory" - leading man Jack Black, whose material still has enough thinness to it to keep Black from being all-out sensational, but cannot overshadow Black's wealth of near-exceeding charm that convinces you of the likability within Bernie Tiede without going too far, and when the heavier moments come into play, Black ever so surprisingly delivers on unexpectedly powerful emotional range, both strikingly broad and grippingly subtle, that particularly define the human layers within Tiede, and help in leaving Black to become Tiede, as well as a very compelling lead. Black is asked to do only so much, but he still does more than you ever thought he would do, so if you see this film for no other reason, see it for those brief moments in which Black truly shines that rest within a film that is, on the whole, worth recommending, because even with its shortcomings, both natural and consequential, the final product boasts enough color and intrigue to compel consistently, or at least entertain rewardingly.

Overall, an exhaustingly overlong development segment, and the occasional peice of focal unevenness afterwords, taints storytelling formula with a bit of repetition that provides a smidge blandness, augmented by the occasional slow spell and thinness in story structuring that help in emphasizing the natural limitations of this film's subject matter, thus leaving underwhelmingness to rear its ugly head in on things, but not make it completely through, going battled back by intrigue and color within this film's subject matter that is complimented by, albeit overused, but interesting interview footage, and truly brought to life by Skip Hollandsworth's and Richard Linklater's clever script, Linklater's lively direction and a colorful cast, headed by Jack Black, whose often underwritten yet, to a certain degree, revelatory lead performance helps in making Richard Linklater's "Bernie" an entertaining, compelling and ultimately rather thought-provoking portrait on humanity's dark range and dark views.

3/5 - Good.