In 1996, mortician Bernie Tiede shot rich, reclusive Marjorie Nugent four times in the back, buried her with the frozen vegetables, then covered up her death for months. The discovery of her body and subsequent murder trial brought infamy to Carthage, Texas, with pro-Bernie supporters protesting his arrest and trumpeting his compassion and goodwill in the community.
Richard Linklater's Bernie recounts the stranger-than-fiction story with more accuracy and humor than most true-crime movies. This black comedy lampoons small town life without condescension: Linklater casts actual Carthage townsfolk who chime in colorfully about Marjorie and Bernie's peculiar companionship. Did she keep him around for a late-in-life romance? Was his use of her money embezzlement? Jack Black, with his enormous energy and vulgarity, surprises with a subtle performance that lets us feel for Bernie. We wait for Black's trademark devilish grin to creep in, never sure how much to trust Bernie's good heart. I got a kick out of Matthew McConaughey as an unconvinced police officer. Linklater doesn't sanctify or condemn, but lets the strange doings in Carthage speak for themselves.
For Your Consideration: Richard Linklater (Director); Jack Black (Actor); Matthew McConaughey (Supporting Actor).
"If anyone's gonna piss on him, it's going to be me. He don't like strangers peeing on him."
So begins the now legendary scene where Nicole Kidman, Southern vampy in a bleached blonde wig, saves paperboy Zac Efron from jellyfish stings. Kidman's game, but this ludicrous golden shower shifts an already lurid bayou thriller into the swampland of unintentional comedies. I have to believe Lee Daniels created the movie he expected to make: overwrought, deep-fried, mass-market paperback shlock. The highly sexual set pieces are clearly Daniels's raison d'etre, from an endlessly shirtless Efron swimming or dancing in wet briefs to a no-touch double masturbation in prison between Kidman and despicable convict John Cusack. Meanwhile, Macy Gray narrates some less interesting story of a murder investigation and the racism and corruption that are uncovered. And when our innocent paperboy (Efron, trying but vapid sharing scenes with real actors) finally beds Kidman, Daniels omits the entire lovemaking. Why be prudish now? Was it in Efron's contract? Matthew McConaughey report: Another effective, heavily sweaty role in a year that reinvented his career.
For Your Razzie Consideration.
If it's me reading the signs, I'd say David O. Russell scored again. In 2010, Russell energized the heavyweight boxing movie in The Fighter, filming on location in Lowell, Mass., and surrounding Mark Wahlberg with a cast of colorful and quotable performers. Though a romantic comedy about dance seems far afield from an in-the-ring sports flick, Silver Linings Playbook -- which Russell directed and wrote -- feels connected to that same world. He doesn't shy from the tropes we expect: antagonism turning into feeling, changes of heart, and climactic dance-offs. But his film believes in them; these are well-drawn characters with funny, unexpected emotional highs and lows.
Jennifer Lawrence continues the promise she showed in Winter's Bone, and suggests that the acerbic young widow Tiffany is older than Lawrence's twenty-two years. As the bipolar Pat, developing a more positive routine and hoping to reconnect with his ex-wife, Bradley Cooper can be steely and focused, or softer and vulnerable. Their confrontation that results in the "parley," with Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver in the mix, highlights Russell's obvious affectation for zealous, messed-up, deeply caring families. Sadly, this was the only movie McConaughey did not appear in last year.
For Your Consideration: David O. Russell (Director); Bradley Cooper (Actor); Jennifer Lawrence (Actress); David O. Russell (Screenplay).
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