Watch Bernie For Free

Why so much hype?

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

In small-town Texas, an affable mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when she starts to become controlling, he goes to great lengths to separate himself from her grasp. Bernie delivers a comedic but also dramatic crime biography of how a man reaches his breaking point when he finds himself in a toxic friendship or relationship in general. Jack Black is brilliant as Bernie, Shirley Maclain was also very good and the same goes for Matthew McConaughey and to be honest if you love Richard Linklater as a director this film will definitely suprise you and make you actually kind of understand the character's motivations as a whole and it's a definitely great film..

"Bernie" from 2011 is the story of Bernie Tiede, a once beloved resident of Carthage, Texas. Here he is played by Jack Black, who does a fantastic job.Bernie's first job in Carthage was as assistant funeral director of the Hawthorne Funeral Home. He was so good and caring at his job that one person said with Bernie doing your service, you just knew you were going to get to heaven.But Bernie could do so much more, and did. He sang like an angel in church and also appeared in the local musicals. There were rumors that he might be gay, but that didn't put anyone off. Everybody loved him.At the funeral of Roger Nugent, he met Roger's widow (Shirley MacLaine), one of the meanest -- and richest -- women around. No one liked her. She was rude and acted superior to everyone.As Bernie always did after a man's funeral, he would visit the widows. Mrs. Nugent was no exception. Mrs. Nugent took a shine to Bernie and soon, they were inseparable. He did errands for her, he took her to dinner, and he escorted her on trips.But as we said earlier, Mrs. Nugent wasn't easy to get along with, and she became very possessive of Bernie and very demanding of him. Bernie, after all, had other things to do but he incurred her wrath when he did them.One day in 1997, they were out in the garage doing some work. Mrs. Nugent was yammering on as usual. Bernie had a rifle in his hand and shot her four times. After that, Bernie continued living in his small house and became the town benefactor with all kinds of charitable projects, even giving a church $100,000 in Mrs. Nugent's name. First, Mrs. Nugent was sick and couldn't talk; then she was in a nursing home. Nine months passed, and her stockbroker had had enough and broke into her house, searching for anything that would tell him what was going on.Fascinating story about a beloved man who, in the movie anyway, somehow managed to remain beloved despite his crimes. The film is wonderful, with strong performances and good direction by Richard Linklater. It does, however, take some liberties. The film fails to mention that Bernie redid Mrs. Nugent's will, disinheriting her family and leaving everything to him. It is felt that he little by little made sure she was separated from her family as well. Though many people thought the portrayal of Mrs. Nugent in the film was accurate, some disagreed, saying she was a nice woman. Shirley MacLaine does an excellent job in the role.Linklater pops in interviews with real residents of Carthage, who knew Bernie so that it's almost a documentary style.In real life, Bernie was tried twice. Here it's just once, with the District Attorney, well played by Matthew McConaughey. Very good movie, recommended primarily for the performance of Jack Black.

A mortician strikes up a friendship with a rich controlling businesswoman that doesn't have good consequences. The film is told like a documentary with interviews with people who knew the pair along with flashbacks to stages in their relationship. It's an interesting format and one that works well. The story flows well and holds your attention throughout. This is a good example of a black comedy that really works with a sparkling and very witty script with lots of well observed and funny moments but also some good dark drama. It features a strong cast with Jack Black as a popular mortician.The stand out performance for me was by Matthew McConaughey as the charismatic cop trying to put Black behind bars. Bernie is one of those films that you watch with low expectations but which surprises you with how good it is. It deserves a much higher rating than it's current 6.8 (36,466 votes). Highly recommended.

At first, upon hearing about this, didn't have high expectations at all. Not a big fan of Jack Black, and the title Bernie just makes it seem like a ridiculous raunchy comedy. But then reviews were pretty great, and I raised my expectations a lot. I kind of wanted more black comedy in it, as it is, it mostly plays straight as a drama with some darkly comedic moments. Jack Black, though, is the real revelation here. I had no idea he had this in him, and it's a pretty fantastic performance. Matthew McConaughey is also pretty fun here, playing his character as straight as the film requires but also making him really funny. This is some strong work.