Bernie

This was a sleeper surprise of a movie. With a quirky mix of well-known Hollywood actors--Shirley Maclaine, Matthew McConaughey, and Jack Black--and real-live interviews, the story of Bernie and Marjorie Nugent comes to light and trial.

I love Jack Black in this role which is very different from the characters he has played in previous movies. He is magnificent along with Shirley Maclaine who in my opinion is just fine. And the topper off is the fact that it is based on a true story!! And we may be able to see where he is coming from. Maybe. Great cast, including Matthew McConaughey.

I'm a big fan of Richard Linklater films (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) so when my friend invited me to the London Film Festival I was pleased to see that one of the films we were going to watch was Bernie. Based on the true events surrounding a small town in Texas, a local mortician strikes up an unlikely friendship with a wealthy but universally disliked widow. Their close friendship changes both of them and unfortunately leads to a fatal end.

I really enjoyed the film, it is filled with what feels like real life residents of the town involved (we honestly thought they were real residents) and Jack Black is great as Bernie, using his singing to good effect. Shirley MacLaine is also on top form as the spiteful widow. There are some really twisted moments in the film and combined with the clever observations of how people really react to drama in their town creates a fantastic film. Richard Linklater has truely shown how gifted he is at making a film that blurs the line between a documentary and a movie.