Bernie

“Bernie” stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Mathew McConaughey in this-black comedy which plays more like a documentary, especially since it utilizes many of the actual townspeople in Carthage, Texas where the true life occurrences took place. Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Mr. Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, this movie is based on an article that Mr. Hollandsworth wrote for the  Texas Monthly magazine in 1998. Although Jack Black is not my favorite leading man, he does exhibit a wide and interesting range of acting in his portrayal of the main character in the film. Perhaps the defect in the movie is not so much the acting or the presentation but the lack of any depth or substance. This explains why what occurred in this small Texas town of 6500 people was only  described and written about in a magazine article…there just isn’t enough here for a full length theatrical feature. I give the film 2 and ½ stars for its effort and uniqueness. It’s a film that could have explored the complexity of the character played by Mr. Black instead of just reciting events as they took place and for that reason I found it, like the magazine article, short on substance.