Bernie 2012

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: You would be hard pressed to find a film that feels more true to a reporter's experience of an event. This isn't necessarily a good thing, at least not cinematically. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Even at its most charming as a defense of small-town eccentrics and Texas-style legal process, the film plays a little slowly. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A sordid, bleak tale about two lonely people drawn to each other like colliding planets. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The movie itself, a partly true and cheerfully embellished account of a Texas murder case, presents a case of narrative drift. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I had to forget what I knew about Black. He creates this character out of thin air, it's like nothing he's done before, and it proves that an actor can be a miraculous thing in the right role. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's a darkly funny, irresistible film - and one with a masterful performance at its center. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A true-crime story where the real mystery isn't what happened, but the bizarre context for the murder and the collective madness of a town that couldn't accept it at face value. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A dead-solid-perfect depiction of small-town life. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's bright and endearing and surprisingly lacking in a point. I wish I liked it better, but it's a start. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Some of the best performances come from real-life residents of Carthage as they share their recollections on camera. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Linklater's a glider, not a pile-driver; he hangs back when other directors prefer to bore in. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's a gentle, light-fingered horror story, and it rightfully leaves us as bewildered as the denizens of Carthage. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Watching Bernie is a little like sitting on a shady front porch and gossiping with the town tattlers. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Bernie has chuckles, but it's hardly riotous. And this is a good thing. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "Bernie' isn't a monumental film, but it is a finely tuned character study with some nice innovations. Read more

Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: All those twangy, homespun observations interrupt and annotate the narrative until Black and MacLaine's scenes start to feel as trivial as reenactments on a true-crime TV show. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A splendid performance by Jack Black distinguishes this overly mild look at a 1990s Texas murder. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: A true-life Texas tale so perfectly told it seems more like eavesdropping than moviegoing. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The question of why the law must always be upheld, regardless of consequences, gives this light, amiable movie a surprising heft and weight. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Linklater, admirably unconcerned about how his film can be categorized, has made a comedy, a drama and most certainly a character study. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Linklater has made a smart movie, with a mordant satirical edge, but he almost falls victim to his own sense of authenticity. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: A jovial yet gracefully told tale. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Linklater clearly has no idea why the man did what he did. But then, Bernie probably didn't either. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR: The wonder of Black's performance here is its empathy and balance: inasmuch as he can disappear into any role, he dissolves into this one with no hint of mocking remove. It's a beautiful thing to see. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A movie that may not ultimately add up to much, but which is filled with wonderfully odd details of weird Americana. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Jack Black gives the performance of his career in the title role of "Bernie"... Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: I, for one, eagerly await the sequel to Bernie. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: [A] weirdly funny, inspiring film. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Has a little bit of an East Texas Fargo feel. Jack Black gives one of his best performances. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: As played by Jack Black, in an award-caliber performance, Bernie is everything you'd want in a friend. The movie is a one-of-a-kind inspiration. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: 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. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Much more than a macabre true-crime tale: It's a story of thwarted love, not between two people, but between a man and a whole town. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A one-of-a-kind comedy based on the real homicide of an innocent old lady. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 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. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: Propelled by a perfectly cast trio of stars whose eccentricities shine in singular character roles, Bernie is charmer. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Taking its time with a flavorful middle section, the movie builds into a true-crime treat; some will think of Fargo (apt, but this movie is gentler), others, the documentaries of Werner Herzog. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Bernie isn't a particularly likeable guy and Black's opaque performance never lets us get beneath the surface to find a character we might actually care about. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: Throughout, there's a tension of real life and fiction, and a pervading sense that fiction has little chance of matching the real thing. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Pitch-perfect performances by Shirley MacLaine and an unusually restrained Jack Black hold together this offbeat true-crime saga, but Linklater's keen eye for human eccentricity flowers most memorably on the periphery. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: A chafing, rock-in-the-shoe kind of movie -- and I mean this as a compliment. Read more

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