Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is an assistant funeral director and pillar of his smalltown community in Carthage, Texas, who befriends rich but mean widow Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine). Soon they’re inseparable, but Marjorie proves jealous and controlling. When her corpse is discovered in her freezer, many townsfolk refuse to believe Bernie dunnit… much to the frustration of showboating district attorney Danny Buck Davidson (Matthew McConaughey).
An early scene in which Bernie sings along with gospel music in his car had me dreading a film full of smarmy ‘Jack Black-isms’, but the fastidious, folksy yet highbrow Bernie is the most subtle characterisation Black’s done in years. I loved his dainty walk and sorrowful sighs. Both he and MacLaine appear by turns ridiculous, vulnerable and selfish, the nature of their relationship intimate yet ambiguous.
Speculating on everything is an amusing Greek chorus of townsfolk – some played by actors, some playing themselves – in doco-style interviews. Director Richard Linklater has worked with true stories before, but here the style and the material mesh beautifully, offering laugh-out-loud moments and characters you just couldn’t invent, as well as shrewd commentary on American class divisions and the essential mystery of other people’s lives.
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