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

| Feb 22, 2019

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

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 5, 2017

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?

| Nov 5, 2013

It looks like a southern gothic and feels like a particularly hilarious farce, but Bernie is not at all what you think.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 5, 2013

Linklater observes it all with an ironic smile on his face. But he's never patronising enough to sneer.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 26, 2013

Really impressive.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 25, 2013

Almost vaudeville in spirit, it delights in American social clichs and kinks.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 25, 2013

Far more fine shades and ambiguities than expected.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 25, 2013

Linklater's Fargo, it's funny peculiar and funny ha ha, with Black a delight and Linklater in impressive control of superbly judged content and tone.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 22, 2013

Part of the film's pleasure lies in watching its spirit of poky Southern amiability give way to true-crime insanity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 8, 2013

It's done very well indeed. I think Jack Black is wonderful. I thought that the whole progression of the film was, to me, unexpected.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 16, 2012

"Bernie' isn't a monumental film, but it is a finely tuned character study with some nice innovations.

| Original Score: B | May 25, 2012

Bernie has chuckles, but it's hardly riotous. And this is a good thing.

Full Review | May 18, 2012

Propelled by a perfectly cast trio of stars whose eccentricities shine in singular character roles, Bernie is charmer.

| May 18, 2012

Black is terrific. Rather than winking at the audience, he plays Bernie as a guy who's thoroughly unaware that there's anything unconventional about his behavior.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 18, 2012

"Bernie" unfolds into many equally rich narrative strands: love story, southern Gothic slice-of-life and, finally tragedy and legal thriller...

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 18, 2012

Linklater's a glider, not a pile-driver; he hangs back when other directors prefer to bore in.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 17, 2012

It allows director Richard Linklater to explore his own roots while telling a remarkable real-life story, something too crazy for anyone to make up.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 17, 2012

It's a darkly funny, irresistible film - and one with a masterful performance at its center.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 17, 2012

The movie's bright and endearing and surprisingly lacking in a point. I wish I liked it better, but it's a start.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 17, 2012