Bernie

Jack Black reteamed with his School of Rock director Richard Linklater—and Linklater’s casting of Black was a masterstroke. As Bernie Tiede, the real convicted killer of Marjorie Nugent in the Texas town of Carthage, Black delivers a performance to be remembered. He’s an actor who has a tendency to overdo it sometimes, and it’s good to see him rein it in and do something with depth and nuance. Linklater comes at the story from a risky angle. It’s no secret that much of the town loved Bernie Tiede, and some people believed that he didn’t commit the murder, even though he confessed. The movie almost comes off as an argument that he wasn’t such a bad guy after all, even if he did shoot an old woman (played awesomely by Shirley MacLaine) in the back four times and then stuff her in a garage freezer. This is a triumph for Black and Linklater, proof that these guys should keep making movies together. Bernie also stars Matthew McConaughey as Danny Buck, the district attorney who would put Tiede behind bars.