Bernie

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2:02

Bernie

PG-13

2012

1h 44m

Comedy

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

168 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede is one of the most-beloved residents in the small Texas town of Carthage. Sunday-school teacher, choir member and creator of spectacular funerals, Bernie is a friend to everyone, including Marjorie Nugent, a rich but nasty widow whom no one else likes. When Marjorie is found shot to death and stuffed in a freezer, Bernie is charged with the murder, and concerned Carthage citizens immediately spring to his defense.

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Critics Consensus

Richard Linklater's Bernie is a gently told and unexpectedly amusing true-crime comedy that benefits from an impressive performance by Jack Black.

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J. Hoberman

ARTINFO.com

02/22/2019

Bernie lacks the edge of malice one might reasonably expect from so nasty a tale.

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Anna Smith

metro.co.uk

09/05/2017

4/5

[Jack] Black is hilarious, all towering tolerance that finally reaches boiling point.

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Kent Jones

Film Comment Magazine

11/05/2013

But the troubling question at the heart of this liberating, sunlit, deceptively simple but extremely complex and fairly formidable film is: should the law or the community itself decide the fate of its citizens?

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Michael Leader

Den of Geek

05/08/2024

Bernie sits squarely in the middle of Linklater’s indie-mainstream spectrum – an experiment in marrying drama and documentary, which inevitably satisfies neither.

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Emiliano Basile

EscribiendoCine

01/02/2024

8/10

[Linklater] tenderly embellishes the entire situation by subtly expressing the dichotomy between the law and real life. [Full review in Spanish]

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James Croot

The Post NZ

04/21/2023

4.5/5

While some may bridle at a serious event being treated in a glib fashion for comic effect, Linklater never openly ridicules the situation or his subjects – and serial-mugger Black is remarkably restrained.

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Susan C.

@RT05279775 Feb 3

Interesting story. Acted with nuance. Definitely better than most.

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Pauline G

@RT71247218 Jan 3

An unusual, entertaining & surprising film which I'm glad I watched.

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Rik V

@Rokkrr Dec 22

Jack Black deserved an Academy Award for this performance.

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HotRod D

@HotRodD Oct 16

I don’t understand the negative reviews of this movie? I picked up this DVD at a dollar store of all places. Jack Black is always entertaining. And Shirley MacLaine is pure gold. Even though the true story wasn’t pleasant. The way the film portrayed it was ok. This was a very good movie in my opinion. It’s worth watching if you like good movies

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marvin n

@RT49746518 Sep 5

Just not feeling it 🫥

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kevenquinlan T

@RT75276071 Aug 23

Well, the story is true- but it's not very good. All performances were as good as you'd expect from the people performing them. I just found the subject matter- weird, in a kind of boring way. I didn't hate it and I'm glad I watched it- but I just don't think I can keep this in my collection and if I did it would only be b/c of Matt and Jack- and I like a lot of Linklater's stuff, just not this. One of the very few movies that's well made in everyway but suffers simply from a person I'm not interested in.

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Richard Linklater

Director

Jack Black

Bernie Tiede

Shirley MacLaine

Marjorie Nugent

Matthew McConaughey

Danny Buck

Brady Coleman

Scrappy Holmes

Richard Robichaux

Lloyd Hornbuckler

Bernie: Official Clip - The Cover Up

2:09

Bernie: Official Clip - What Have I Done?

2:11

Bernie: Official Clip - Ready for the Casket

2:03

Bernie: Official Clip - Mean Marjorie

2:05

Bernie: Official Clip - I Know You Hate Me

2:12

Bernie: Official Clip - Most Qualified Young Man

2:11

Bernie: Official Clip - The Freezer

2:09

Bernie: Official Clip - Was it Romantic?

2:13

Bernie: Official Clip - The Five States of Texas

1:13

Bernie: Official Clip - Increasingly Dependent

2:13

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Bernie: Trailer 1

2:02

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Synopsis

Assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede is one of the most-beloved residents in the small Texas town of Carthage. Sunday-school teacher, choir member and creator of spectacular funerals, Bernie is a friend to everyone, including Marjorie Nugent, a rich but nasty widow whom no one else likes. When Marjorie is found shot to death and stuffed in a freezer, Bernie is charged with the murder, and concerned Carthage citizens immediately spring to his defense.

Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer, Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Judd Payne, Dete Meserve, Ginger Sledge, Richard Linklater
Screenwriter: Richard Linklater, Skip Hollandsworth
Distributor: Millennium Entertainment
Production Co: Detour Filmproduction, Wind Dancer Films, Mandalay Vision
Rating: PG-13 (Some Violent Images|Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 27, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.2M
Runtime: 1h 44m

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