This was an absolute delight.

Linklater proves once again that he as the uncanny ability to get Jack Black to act. In the hands of another director I'm pretty sure this film would have lacked the lightness of touch, the whimsical observations and the beautifully blurred lines between fiction and fact.

Hidden beneath this darkly comic true story Linklater has found a subtle satirical thread running throughout the way it unfolds. Cast in the shape of a mockumentary, alternating between interviews with townsfolk (both the real people and actors) and scenes in which we get to see how the events around Bernie might have happened, the film says a lot about public perception and the way social structures operate in…

.......

Wait. I'm really confused right now.

Did I, Ariel, Rocks Mother Fucking 5, actually managed to finish something made by Richard Linklater without wanting to kill myself!? And I honestly liked it!? What!?

I mean, I'm not acting like this is some form of revelation of film craft or anything and I only really watched this because I was bored, but for what it's worth, "Bernie" genuinely surprised me with how much I ended up hooked with its main goals.

It made me laugh, it kept me interested, and I had no real clue what would happen next. I was definitely taken off by the documentary style interviews at first, but I grew used them over time because it…

"Grief should not tragically become a comedy"

I want to nominate Jack Black for "One of the Most Punchable Faces in the Universe." He only narrowly wins over Jared Leto.

But despite his chubby mug, he actually churns out a great performance in this movie. In fact, Bernie is Jack Black's most accomplished work. Hell, he is fan-freaking-tastic here. I don't care about his fat face. Bernie is to Jack Black what Punch-Drunk Love was to Adam Sandler.

This film is a little less accomplished, but is still an underrated gem from the great Richard Linklater. Here he touts his versatility in creating one of the finest dark comedies of recent memory. Jack Black like I said, plays his character…

In a small town, people will always suspect the worst of someone. But they'll also suspect the best.
-Townsperson

I've seen a few films from the self-taught writer/director Richard Linklater and I have to say I still would not be able to identify a piece of his work without already knowing he directed it. His films range in style drastically. You only need to compare Bernie to his other comedy with Jack Black, School of Rock, to find two of his films that seem to be made by different directors.

It's not as if he's only made comedies either, but his more dramatic outings like Before Sunset and experimental work like Waking Life are all drastically different from each other…

Bernie is a very likeable film - I believe it is impossible to dislike it, it's just so fun and has got a lot of personality, keeping it light and very amusing throughout the entire runtime that there's no way any film fan will find it underwhelming. Well, it is not a perfect achievement and it probably will never achieve the status of “one of the greats”, but it's nonetheless a truly enjoyable piece of cinema, really a great comedy if you ask me. Yet it's not your regular comedy, it's actually a dark and psychological one, but Richard Linklater's magical touch and Jack Black's performance at the movie's core make it a pretty lovable film at the end.

Based…

Se c'è una cosa di cui sono certo, è che alla fine di questi anni '10 Richard Linklater sarà considerato uno dei registi più importanti del decennio. Il quartetto di film prodotti finora è impressionante, per varietà e qualità media: da Everybody Wants Some a Boyhood, da Before Midnight a Bernie.
Quest'ultimo è un po' la mosca bianca della produzione del cineasta texano, tratto da una storia vera e venato di un umorismo nero che rende surreali anche i momenti più drammatici. Ottimo il terzetto Black / MacLaine / McConaughey - in particolare il primo, che offre una performance memorabile, teatrale il giusto.
Alla fine, comunque, il tratto comune a tutto il corpus Linklater-iano a emergere con forza anche qui…

Okay, it's been way too long since I've posted an actual review, so let's get back into the swing of things with Richard Linklater's Bernie. Even though I have to go away for about a month and a half soon, so...

... eh, screw it.

This is a really odd film to review, and not just because it's best to know as little as possible before watching it. Yes, this is one of those movies tainted by the spoilerific advertising campaign, in which every trailer, commercial and plot synopsis (including the one on this very site) gives away the big second act turning point. I mean, I kind of get why they did that. If it was advertised without featuring…

Honestly there’s not much more that can be said about Bernie that my friend Andrew hasn’t already said. Despite being swept under the rug, critics and audiences have given praise to the film for being what could be considered Jack Black’s finest role. It’s subdued and very honest.

The film stars Jack Black as Bernie Tiede, a funeral director in a small town in Texas. Bernie befriends a wealthy widow - Marjorie (played by Shirley MacLaine) and the story essentially follows the dynamic between these two characters. To say anything more would be unfair as the story is surprisingly compelling.

Matthew McConaughey plays a district attorney in the film, but I found his role to be largely forgettable considering the…