Bernie opens with the legend ‘A true story’. Not 'Based on', just 'True'. Which is an intriguingly brash statement, but you'll forget it pretty quickly, or assume that the film's teasing you (as Fargo once did); but it's not, and it's worth remembering. When scripwriters adapt true stories they have it drilled into them that life can sometimes be too strange for fiction, so they have to finesse it. Less politely known as ‘lying’. Richard Linklater (director & co-writer) has found his own way to lie without lying.
Bernie, probably best (and oddly) described as a tale about murder and kindness, mixes fact and fiction using one-on-one interviews with the actual townsfolk of Carthage, Texas. The happenings around the town aren't strange to them because they lived through it. It's just life. Why question what's fact? We get caught up in their colourful accounts and don't once question if it's true, because it must be. Right? Well... Since some of the townsfolk are actors and some are the real deal - and it's never clear which is which (except for the main cast) - nothing is ever certain. Which makes the film neither documentary nor fiction. The interviews work so well that they end up being one of the best parts of the film. The townsfolk are opinionated, colourful, well meaning and funny (even if it's not always intentional). In fact the film as a whole is funnier than its ad campaign suggested. Pitched as a black comedy, the humour is actually much lighter; not so much black as off-grey, playing like a spiritual sequel to Pleasantville, just with murder.
The casting is immaculate, Jack Black (as Bernie) and Shirley MacLaine (as his 'companion') are eerily good fits as the not-quite-couple at the centre of the story - how good a fit isn't fully clear till you see the end credits. Matthew McConaughey, as the local District Attorney, continues to have fun being cast against type, and gets what might be my favourite scene from last year, sat in a church squirming as he realises all is not well in Carthage. The film only loses its momentum in the courtroom scenes towards the end. The rest of the film subverts our expectations so well that when the closing act goes (mostly) as expected it's a slight letdown. It's hard to complain, as that's what happened. I suppose I'm too used to being lied to by films. I think I can live without an over the top denouement this one time.
Bernie: quite possibly the most amiable film about murder that you're likely to see.
Overall: 8/10
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