Taglines: A story so unbelievable it must be true.
We meet Bernie Tiede (1958- ), a chubby undertaker, who takes pride in his work. He’s a Gospel-singing tenor. In a series of interviews with townspeople, mixed with flashbacks, we follow Bernie: he arrives in Carthage, Texas (pop. 7,000), where old ladies adore him; he befriends a wealthy, mean-spirited widow named Marjorie Nugent; they become companions in both daily routines and expensive vacations. Among those interviewed, only her stockbroker and Danny Buck, the local district attorney, are unsympathetic toward the sunny, sometimes saccharine Bernie. Marjorie changes from sour and alone to happy with Bernie; then she gets possessive. What will sweet Bernie do?
Bernie is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, written by Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth. The film stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. It is based on a 1998 Texas Monthly magazine article by Hollandsworth, “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas,” that chronicles the 1996 murder of 80-year-old millionaire Marjorie Nugent in Carthage, Texas by her 39-year-old companion, Bernhardt ”Bernie” Tiede. Tiede proved so highly regarded in Carthage that, in spite of having confessed to the police, the district attorney was eventually forced to request a rare prosecutorial change of venue in order to secure a fair trial.
Bernie (2012)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey, Brady Coleman, Richard Robichaux, Rick Dial, Brandon Smith, Larry Jack Dotson, Merrilee McCommas, Marjorie Dome, Tim Cariker
Screenplay by: Richard Linklater
Production Design by: Bruce Curtis
Cinematography by: Dick Pope
Film Editing by: Sandra Adair
Costume Design by: Kari Perkins
Art Direction by: Rodney Becker
Music by: Graham Reynolds
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violent images and brief strong language.
Distributed by: Millennium Entertainment
Release Date: April 27, 2012
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