Bernie (Blu-ray) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Black Comedy	Featurette-Making Of-True Story to Feature Film Featurette-Making Of-Amazing Grace - Jack Black Featurette-Behind The Scenes-The Gossips - Carthage townspeople Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	100:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Richard Linklater
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jack Black Shirley MacLaine Matthew McConaughey Brady Coleman Richard Robichaux Rick Dial
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Graham Reynolds

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English Linear PCM 48/24 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

When American director Richard Linklater read a Texas Weekly newspaper article by Skip Hollandsworth in the late 90s about a small town undertakers assistant who was charged with murdering his wealthy female benefactor he was intrigued enough to travel to the town of Carthage, East Texas to sit in on the trial of Bernie Tiede.

What he found was an amazing story albeit one that took over 10 years to bring to the screen. The remarkable thing was not the nature of the crime, which is not exactly uncommon, but rather the reaction of the townspeople. Some of them refused to believe that Bernie committed the crime and others believe that if he did, well, the old lady had it coming!

Perhaps this is the reason why the Linklater has made such an unusual film of the story, combining performances by actors with interviews of the smalltown residents, known collectively as "the gossips". It is an inspired choice which makes this a strange and entertaining black comedy.

Jack Black plays Bernie Tiede, a dedicated, sensitive and religious undertakers assistant. Answering a job application he comes to Carthage and immediately wins over the local residents particularly the older residents. He is not only a genuine artiste when it comes to preparing the dearly departed for viewing but also an expert at helping the bereaved to get over their loss. He is able to present services with genuine sincerity and has a lovely singing voice to boot.

Bernie quickly becomes the most popular man in town despite the common belief from the menfolk of Carthage that he was "a little light in his loafers". When Marjorie Nugent (Shirley McLaine), the wife of the local banker, experiences the loss of her husband Bernie is there to console her. The irrepressibly positive Bernie comes up against the sour and mean-spirited Marjorie and eventually wins her over.

The pair become inseparable. Bernie fills a role in her life and the pair travel the world with Bernie as her trusted aide or friend or consort - no-one really knew. Stories differ as to what happened next. News reports suggest that Marjorie found out that Bernie was stealing her money. The film suggests that Marjorie wore down all of Bernie's goodness with her nasty nature and he eventually snapped.

For months Bernie made excuses that Marjorie was unwell or living in a rest home out of Carthage. Eventually the game was up and district attorney Danny Buck (Matthew McConaughey) comes in to secure a conviction and move onto the next case. The DA wears a Stetson and loves the public attention. Imagine his surprise when the townspeople actively discourage him from charging Bernie with the crime!

Jack Black has hardly been better than as the genuine and sensitive Bernie. McConaughey and MacLaine don't have a huge roles that both give it their all. Some may find the film a little dark given the premise but Linklater is careful not to dwell on the horror. MacLaine manages to make Marjorie defiantly nasty and yet sympathetic at times.

The film is a little joy though I couldn't help the feeling that the story may have been told better by a documentary filmmaker like Errol Morris who could let each revelation drop to our growing astonishment.

Video

Bernie comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p transfer at the correct cinematic aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

This is a good looking film.

The image quality is sharp throughout.

The colours are vibrant.

The flesh tones are accurate.

There are no technical problems with the transfer.

There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Bernie features two English language soundtracks. One is a Dolby True HD 5.1 track and the other 2.0 LPCM track.

In truth, the film really consists of interviews and chamber dialogue.

The surround sound does not have a great deal to do. Further, the sub-woofer only rarely comes into effect.

This is not a criticism. The sound for the film is excellent and the dialogue is clear and easy to understand.

The music is by Graham Reynolds who combines various quirky themes.

There are no technical problems with the sound transfer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

True Story to Feature Film (9.30)

    Director Linklater and journalist co-scrptwriter Hollandsworth talk about their origins of, and their attraction to, the Bernie Tiede story.

Amazing Grace featurette on Jack Black's performance (7.16)

     Of course, Jack Black knows how to sing (see Tenacious D) but it still is a surprise to hear him belting out sacred arias and show tunes.

"The gossips" featurette on the real life townspeople of Carthage (13.10)

     A special on the townspeople who injected so much verisimilitude to the film.

Behind-the-scenes

     An advertised feature but it doesn't exist!

Deleted scenes (10.45)

     A number of deleted scenes are included, none of any great moment, some merely snippets. There is a comedy moment when Bernie drives around with a dummy "Marjorie" to convince people she is still around.

Theatrical trailer

     The trailer for the film.

   The specifications for the film are the same in Region A. Buy local.

Bernie is a quirky and enjoyable film which for once fits the subtitle: "a story so unbelievable it must be true".

The transfer quality is excellent throughout and the extras are interesting though not comprehensive.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall