Bernie

There’s little doubt that Bernie represents a fairly drastic departure for filmmaker Richard Linklater, as the movie, which tells the true story of the relationship between a kind-hearted funeral director (Jack Black’s Bernie Tiede) and a loathed yet wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine’s Marjorie Nugent), rarely unfolds as one might’ve anticipated – with Linklater’s decision to blend fictional elements with real-life Q&A footage admittedly taking some getting used to (ie the initial proliferation of interviews results in an atmosphere akin to a network-television reenactment). It’s clear right from the outset, though, that the movie benefits substantially from Black’s revelatory performance, as the actor effortlessly slips into the skin of a low-key and consistently likeable figure that couldn’t possibly be farther from his larger-than-life persona. The ongoing emphasis on Bernie’s subdued exploits does, as a result, fare somewhat better than one might’ve anticipated, although there’s little doubt that Linklater’s palpably meandering modus operandi becomes more and more problematic as the film progresses into its relatively pointless midsection (ie one can’t help but wonder if the movie is going to be content merely documenting the weird relationship between the two central characters). And while the film receives a burst of energy with a rather unexpected twist about halfway through, Bernie ultimately comes off as a watchable endeavor that works mostly as a showcase for three admittedly spectacular performances (Matthew McConaughey, cast as a pragmatic lawyer, delivers his best work in years here).

**1/2 out of ****