Bernie: Empathizing With A Murderer

How does one find empathy for a murderer? Cast Jack Black. Bernie opened in limited release and it shouldn’t be long before the film reaches a broader release. The theatre was packed on word of mouth alone and the semi-chuckles and full-blown laughs didn’t stop from opening credits to closing montage.

Bernie is a pseudo-mockumentary based on the true story of BERNIE TIEDE (Jack Black), an ambiguously gay mortician from a small town in East Texas who befriends a rich widow, MARJORIE NUGENT (Shirley MacLaine). After years of being abused by the vile woman, he murders her. Bernie spends the bulk of the film dodging questions about Marjorie’s “health” (pretending she’s in a nursing home) and spending her money on the people of Carthage, like a latter day Southern Robin Hood. Bernie’s pursued and eventually convicted by politicking self-righteous Panola County District Attorney DANNY “BUCK” DAVIDSON (Matthew McConaughey) much to the disappointment of the citizens of Carthage, Texas.

Based on the logline, it would seem Black’s Bernie is the antagonist, but he’s so damn loved by everyone in town that you’re actually rooting for the guy to get away with murder. Marjorie abuses everyone in town, treats Bernie like a servant, and traps him in her mansion compound. Bernie wants to call of the friendship, but he genuinely doesn’t want to hurt Marjorie’s feelings. It comes as a great surprise to the people of Carthage when the nicest guy in the world, after years of abuse and in a moment of weakness, has finally had enough and shoots Marjorie in the back four times with an Armadillo gun and stuffs her body in a freezer for nine months. When Bernie immediately falls to his knees, crying and asking “Marjorie? Marjorie? Oh please God what have I done?” you immediately empathize with him.

Perhaps one of the issues with the film is that it spent too much time creating empathy for Bernie. The actual murder doesn’t happen until roughly halfway through the film, and by the time it occurs you’ve spent a good 45 minutes to an hour empathizing and sympathizing with Bernie and mostly hating Marjorie. The film’s a slow moving two-hour mockumentary that could have easily been told in an hour and a half. Perhaps director Richard Linklater wanted to ensure the audience got a good feel for the down home feeling of East Texas, but as one audience member I can safely say I “got it” in a manner of minutes. Get to the murder.

The films major fault could also be its greatest charm. The ensemble cast of real Texas folks slow drawl of a story stirred up a lot of natural humor, and their genuine love for Bernie is contagious. Jack Black is a gem as Bernie, and MacClaine is always dependable. Perhaps the biggest surprise was McConaughey. I usually reserve a few choice words for his acting performances, but in Bernie he matched Black’s muted mockumentary enthusiasm “tick for tack”.

If you have an opportunity to see Bernie in the coming weeks, I suggest you do so before the hype train gets rolling and ruins its charm. The term “dark comedy” is usually a Hollywood death sentence, but Jack Black daintily tap danced and sang around the moniker and shot Shirley MacLaine in the back in quite possibly his best performance to date.