I would class this as a film that probably shouldn't have been made, but one in which I'm glad it was. It's a true story, but one that I don't find compelling enough to have been put on the silver screen. However, it is clever, a bit peculiar and well acted, and for a movie starring Jack Black it poses interesting and unexpected questions about class issues and the nature of God in Small Town, America.
Black stars as a mortician named Bernie Tiede who befriends and then murders an evil old widow, and then hides her corpse in an outdoor freezer for nine months. It sounds like the type of story that would inspire Joel and Ethan Coen, but writer/director Richard Linklater steers away from the dromedy that could have been, instead choosing to create a mock-documentary inspired examination of one very peculiar man.
Bernie Tiede is about the least likely murderer you have ever seen, which helps explain why he was able to keep the death of Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) a secret for so long. He was one of the most well-liked men in the small town where he lived, going out of his way to help his community with his infectiously affable nature, his generosity and his genuine desire to see that his work be done with great care and respect. He walks with a slight waddle, is suspiciously deemed "light in the loafers"--what I would call limp-wristed--and just about the biggest push-over ever to apply blush onto the cheeks of a dead man. Black does some of his finest work as Bernie, funny as ever, but without even the slightest wink to the audience which makes this piece so special.
Most of the humor, however, comes from a vast ensemble which I think was perfectly cast. It took me quite some time to conclude that I wasn't actually watching a series of interviews spliced in with a loose drama by professional actors. The film is ho-hum hilarious as we get to enjoy backwater, Texan, Christian folk describe Bernie and the events that transpired with all of the colloquialisms that made me think of the Coen Brothers' "Fargo". The illusion is finally ruined when you see many of the townsfolk interact with actors like MacLaine and Black, but even still I tended to forget the fact.
It is hard to maintain the illusion when the actors begin to "act". This was true of a very one-dimensional MacLaine whose character made little sense, as an icy, possessive, almost cruel woman who abuses Bernie's good nature and turns him into something of a slave. The romance between them came from nowhere and was never justified. I suppose this lends itself to the ambiguity attempted, but it was unsatisfying for me. It is further true of Matthew McConaughey who plays the attorney Danny Buck, who succeeds in convicting Bernie for his crime. His acting was far too over the top when compared with others, even Black.
I said that I didn't believe this movie ought to have been made, and I said it for a number of reasons. There is very little that I found spectacular about this murder. There must be dozens of them like this that have occurred in recent memory, so what made this one so special? Well, Linklater guides his audience to the conclusion that something very interesting was going on with this man, Tiede. Either it was the fault of Marjorie that she was killed--that it was her horrible nature that drove him to temporary insanity--or Bernie was one of the most spectacular actors ever to commit an act like this, and that he did it for her considerable fortune. Indeed, it does push Bernie's love of acting on stage very strongly.
I think, though, that this film makes it clear that Linklater believed Tiede to be a victim, and therefore the end of the story and of his film becomes irrelevant. What would have made for great cinema would have been for him to have been found innocent. He was not, and therefore we simply watch a murderer go to jail as he should have been. The film interestingly notes that his case was the only one that local officials ever heard of where the trial had to be relocated because they couldn't find an impartial trial--the people of the town loved Bernie too much to be fair. That right there was the story, the spell that he cast over the community, but unfortunately the movie did not have the cinema ending that would have complimented such a great premise.
I'm aware it seems like a petty thing to say that reality did not finish the way that it should have in order to make for good entertainment. But then, knowing this, it might have been more prudent for Linklater to have written a drama more loosely inspired by the events as opposed to attempting to give an honest portrayal in an ultra-realistic way.
Still, it's a very funny film and Black does good work. I mostly appreciated that the comedy was left to the audience to find for themselves. I enjoy it when I am respected.
2.5/4
No comments:
Post a Comment