''Bernie'' is a 2011 American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
directed by
Richard Linklater
Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies ' ...
, and written by Linklater and
Skip Hollandsworth
Walter Ned "Skip" Hollandsworth (born November 9, 1957) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor for ''Texas Monthly'' magazine. In 2010, he won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing from the American Soci ...
. The film stars
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ' ...
,
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...
and
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
. It is based on Hollandsworth's January 1998 article, "Midnight in the Garden of East Texas", published in ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' magazine. It explores the 1996 murder of 81-year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent (MacLaine) in
Carthage, Texas
Carthage is a city and the county seat of Panola County, Texas, United States. This city is situated in deep East Texas, 20 miles west of the Louisiana state line. Its population was 6,569 at the 2020 census.
History
Carthage was founded in 1 ...
, by her 39-year-old companion,
Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede (Black) and yet was still so popular in his community that the prosecutor had to request a
change of venue
A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publ ...
in order to avoid a biased jury.
The film received critical acclaim for its direction, accuracy in relation to the facts, "Town Gossips" element, and particular praise for Jack Black's performance.
Plot
In small-town
Carthage, Texas
Carthage is a city and the county seat of Panola County, Texas, United States. This city is situated in deep East Texas, 20 miles west of the Louisiana state line. Its population was 6,569 at the 2020 census.
History
Carthage was founded in 1 ...
, in 1996, local assistant
mortician Bernie Tiede
Bernhardt Tiede II (; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician who was convicted of the November 19, 1996 murder of his companion, wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas. He was 38 at the time of the murder.
...
, a beloved member of the community, becomes the only friend of the wealthy, recently widowed Marjorie Nugent. The townsfolk consider her cold and unpleasant. Tiede, in his late 30s, and the elderly Nugent quickly become inseparable, frequently traveling and lunching together. Tiede's social life suffers because of Nugent's constant demands for his attention.
Tiede murders Nugent after growing weary of the emotional toll of her possessiveness and persistent nagging. For nine months, Tiede excuses her absence in the community with few questions while using her money to support local businesses and neighbors. Finally, Nugent's stockbroker uses Tiede's neglect of previously agreed-upon payments to enlist the help of her estranged family. This results in an authorized police search of her house, which concludes with the discovery of Nugent's corpse in a freezer chest.
The local
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...
, Danny Buck Davidson, charges Tiede with
first-degree (premeditated) murder. Tiede is arrested and he soon confesses that he killed Nugent, while claiming her
emotional abuse
Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition ...
as a
mitigating circumstance
In law, attendant circumstances (sometimes external circumstances) are the facts surrounding an event.
In criminal law in the United States, the definition of a given offense generally includes up to three kinds of "elements": the , or guilty c ...
. Despite this confession, many citizens of Carthage still rally to Tiede's defense, with some asserting that Nugent deserved to die. Davidson successfully requests a
change of venue
A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publ ...
to the town of
San Augustine
San Augustine is the county seat city of San Augustine County, Texas, in East Texas, United States. The population was at the 2020 census.
History
The first European settlement in the area began in 1717 with the establishment of Mission Nuest ...
, 50 miles away, to avoid selecting a biased jury. Despite the absence of evidence of
premeditation, Tiede is found guilty as charged and
imprisoned for life.
Cast
*
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), '' Shallow Hal'' (2001), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ' ...
as
Bernie Tiede
Bernhardt Tiede II (; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician who was convicted of the November 19, 1996 murder of his companion, wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas. He was 38 at the time of the murder.
...
*
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...
as Marjorie "Margie" Nugent
*
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...
as Danny Buck Davidson
* Brady Coleman as Scrappy Holmes
* Richard Robichaux as Lloyd Hornbuckle
* Rick Dial as Don Leggett
* Brandon Smith as Sheriff Huckabee
* Larry Jack Dotson as the Rev. Woodard
* Merrilee McCommas as Molly
* Mathew Greer as Carl
*
Gabriel Luna as Kevin
* Kay Epperson as Townsperson (spoke with Bernie in prison scene)
* Sonny Carl Davis as Townsperson
Production
The film was based on an article in ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' magazine by
Skip Hollandsworth
Walter Ned "Skip" Hollandsworth (born November 9, 1957) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor for ''Texas Monthly'' magazine. In 2010, he won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing from the American Soci ...
, who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
took 22 days,
during September–October 2010, in
Bastrop,
Smithville,
Georgetown,
Lockhart, Carthage, and
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, Texas.
The film mixes documentary conventions with fictional elements. There are talking-head interviews with Carthage townspeople; some of the talking heads are actors, while some are townspeople playing themselves.
Linklater said the screenplay that he co-wrote with
Skip Hollandsworth
Walter Ned "Skip" Hollandsworth (born November 9, 1957) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and executive editor for ''Texas Monthly'' magazine. In 2010, he won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing from the American Soci ...
was a boring read, and that "the gossip element almost kept the film from being made, because it reads boring. I said, 'But they’ll be funny characters. I could just imagine the accents.'”
Release
The film's
world premiere was as the opening-night film of the 2011
Los Angeles Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, epis ...
.
Millennium Entertainment released the film on April 27, 2012.
Reception
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film has an 88% "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Richard Linklater's ''Bernie'' is a gently told and unexpectedly amusing true-crime comedy that benefits from an impressive performance by Jack Black". On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a 75 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' enjoyed the film, giving it 3.5 stars out of 4. He praised Black's performance as well as Linklater's direction, saying "His genius was to see Jack Black as Bernie Tiede."
Critic
Jonathan Rosenbaum called the film a masterpiece, describing it as a companion piece to Linklater's 1998 film ''
The Newton Boys'', and saying the writing is:
so good that the humor can’t be reduced to simple satire; a whole community winds up speaking through the film, and it has a lot to say. In fact, it’s hard to think of many other celebrations of small-town American life that are quite as rich, as warm, and as complexly layered, at least within recent years.
He put it on his Top 10 of the 2010-2019 decade.
In a positive review in ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', Dana Stevens lauded the performances of the three leads, saying that both Black and McConaughey are at their best when working with Linklater. But she reserved her highest praise for "the good people of Carthage, who, sitting on porches or the hoods of their cars, recount the strange story of Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent".
Marc Savlov of ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
'' said:
If I hadn't already read Skip Hollandsworth's ''Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' article recounting the tragicomic tale of Carthage's assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede, I'd swear this film adaptation was based on one of Joe R. Lansdale's East Texas gothics. As ever, truth proves itself stranger than fiction and the human heart (which is stranger and more inscrutable than anything). And Jack Black redeems himself (for ''Gulliver's Travels'', among other things) with a subtly quirky performance that's one of his personal best.
Gregory Ellwood of HitFix said the film is "not as funny as Linklater wants it to be...". But he praised Black's performance: "Black is simply great... making you believe someone like Bernie could really exist and while accenting his funny characteristics also portraying him as three-dimensional character."
Eric Kohn of
indieWIRE
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
called it "an oddly endearing love letter to Southern eccentricities". He found the film hard to categorize, saying: "''Bernie'' is a shape-shifting genre vehicle set apart from anything else in Linklater’s career. There’s a loose sensibility to this
mockumentary
A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary.
These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...
—mysterious comedy? comedic mystery? It’s tough to categorize as anything beyond an enjoyable experience."
Mary Pols, writing in ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'', gave the film an unfavorable review: "You would be hard pressed to find a film that feels more true to a reporter’s experience of an event. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, at least not cinematically... The movie translation is playful and cunning but never escapes the reportorial trap; observation after the fact rarely matches the energy of experience... The big problem with playing this same note over and over again is that while the pairing of an 81-year-old
harridan and the 39-year-old effeminate
mensch, whether off on a cruise together or dining at the local taqueria, may sound funny, it’s mostly just sad."
Owen Gleiberman of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' ranked the film as one of the top ten films of 2012, calling it a "deviously droll light-comic tabloid docudrama".
Local response
The film divided citizens of Carthage, the small town in East Texas where Nugent was killed. In the film, Linklater includes interviews with several Carthage residents about their feelings of support for Bernie Tiede. Some citizens hope the film will stimulate an increase in tourism, while others have voiced anger that a comedy film was derived from the events surrounding the murder of an 81-year-old woman.
"You can't make a
dark comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
out of a murder," says
Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson (portrayed in the film by McConaughey). "This movie is not historically accurate," adds Davidson, who says that Nugent's story is missing. "The movie does not tell her side of the story."
"If it was fiction it might be funny, but this was a real person in a real town and no, I don't think it's funny at all," says Carthage resident Toni Clements, who knew both Tiede and Nugent.
Owners of the Hawthorn Funeral Home in Carthage, where Tiede met Nugent, refused to allow the film to use the name of the funeral home. “We felt we did not want the Hawthorn Funeral Home name or family name thought of in a dark comedy... you always know locally these are real people and families so there is a sting.”
"I've now seen the movie ''Bernie'' twice and, except for a few insignificant details ... it tells the story pretty much the way it happened," Joe Rhodes, Nugent's nephew, wrote in ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' shortly before the film's general release. Rod, Nugent's only child, did not return his calls. His lawyer sent Rhodes a letter strongly suggesting the possibility of legal action for his remarks. Rhodes said, "I guarantee he
odwon't like it."
Accolades
''Bernie'' earned nominations for
Best Feature and
Best Ensemble Performance at the
2012 Gotham Awards. At the
2012 Independent Spirit Awards, the film was nominated for
Best Feature and Black was nominated for
Best Male Lead.
The
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
included ''Bernie'' in their Top 10 Independent Films. The
Broadcast Film Critics Association
The Critics Choice Association (CCA), formerly the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), is an association of television, radio and online critics. Their membership includes critics who review film and television. Founded in 1995, it is the ...
nominated ''Bernie'' for
Best Comedy, Black for
Best Actor in a Comedy, and MacLaine for
Best Actress in a Comedy.
A reader survey by the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' ranked it as the "most under-appreciated" film of 2012, from a shortlist of seven films selected by the newspaper.
''Bernie'' won
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
' 14th annual ''Golden Tomato'' award for the best reviewed comedy released in 2012.
Jack Black's performance as
Bernie Tiede
Bernhardt Tiede II (; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician who was convicted of the November 19, 1996 murder of his companion, wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas. He was 38 at the time of the murder.
...
earned him a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
nomination for
Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
Matthew McConaughey's portrayal of Danny Buck Davidson received several nominations and won for Best Supporting Actor from the
New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...
and from the
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
.
Influence
Having seen the film, Austin-based attorney Jodi Cole met with director, Richard Linklater, for further information about the case. After meeting with Tiede at the prison, she began work on a ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...
'' petition in his case, raising issues not addressed in his previous direct appeal. Tiede was released from his life sentence in May 2014 on $10,000 bail, with the condition that he live with Linklater in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
.
Nugent's granddaughter expressed shock that the release was granted, suggesting that it was due to the film's portrayal of Tiede.
On January 2, 2015, an Austin, Texas news channel reported that the district attorney agreed to release Tiede and was not ruling out a future prosecution. Panola County prosecutor Danny Buck Davidson said that he had met members of Marjorie Nugent's family. He believed the film led to successful efforts to have Tiede paroled early from a life sentence. Out on bond, Tiede was due back in court March 2015.
Davidson eventually agreed that Tiede was wrongly sentenced for
first-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially t ...
when he deserved a lesser sentence. On April 22, 2016, after a resentencing hearing in
Henderson, Texas
Henderson is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Texas, in Northeast Texas. Its population was 13,271 at the 2020 census. Henderson is named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of Texas.
The city has functioned as a major cr ...
, a jury deliberated for four-and-a-half hours. They sentenced Tiede to serve a prison term of 99 years to life.
Footnote
# The "
Castle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a label of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself a subsidia ...
" logo and in-credit text does not appear in this film's opening.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Richard Linklater
Panola County, Texas
2011 black comedy films
2010s crime comedy films
2011 films
American biographical films
American black comedy films
American crime comedy films
American independent films
2011 independent films
American mockumentary films
Biographical films about criminals
Castle Rock Entertainment films
Comedy films based on actual events
2010s English-language films
Films based on newspaper and magazine articles
Films directed by Richard Linklater
Films set in 1996
Films set in Texas
Films shot in Texas
Mandalay Pictures films
Crime films based on actual events
2010s American films