Bernie
Millennium Entertainment | Release Date: April 27, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 17, 2012
You should have the opportunity to experience the movie the way I did, in complete ignorance, enjoying its every weird turn. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 24, 2012
Matthew McConaughey finally locates his perfect métier as the town's Fordian skeptic, a district attorney who smells a rat. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMay 17, 2012
Slight but terrific. The intertwining of the sharply tuned actors and the guileless (and often hilarious) townspeople is seamless, the tale is sometimes despairing but never heavy, and the blend of drama, comedy and music is brisk and fresh. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 27, 2012
The innocence of the townspeople is weirdly uplifting. They love their Bernie so much that they seem even more blinkered than he is. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 26, 2012
Gaudily vibrant, at times morbidly funny. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 26, 2012
This is writer-director Richard Linklater at his wry, whimsical best, and considering he was the filmmaker behind 1993's "Dazed and Confused," that makes the movie something of a milestone. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMay 18, 2012
Bernie could easily have gone horribly wrong. But Black and Linklater finesse this tricky material with as much virtuosity as Bernie brings to that broccoli. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 17, 2012
Weirdly funny, inspiring film. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 2, 2012
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 full review
88
New York PostLou LumenickApr 27, 2012
Jack Black gives the performance of his career in the title role of Bernie, under the pitch-perfect direction of his "School of Rock'' director, Richard Linklater, who expertly crafts a black comedy with a deceptively sunny surface. It's the best movie I've seen all spring. Read full review
88
ObserverRex ReedApr 25, 2012
It's a delectable slice of Southern Gothic humor, a side show of rednecks and Bubbas and Aunt Tooties. Read full review
85
NPRJeannette CatsoulisApr 27, 2012
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 full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasApr 25, 2012
Though the lightness of Bernie can get disconcerting at times, even cartoonish, Linklater approaches the story with a bemused curiosity that seems about right under the circumstances. Read full review
80
The GuardianAndrew PulverApr 26, 2013
Black's performance is a revelation: foregoing his usual repertoire of jiggling, tics and head-waggling craziness, Black ensures Tiede is a satirical creation of considerable substance. Really impressive. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMay 17, 2012
The story provides great roles for Jack Black as the sunny title character, Shirley MacLaine as his dyspeptic victim, and Matthew McConaughey as the good-old-boy D.A. who prosecutes the crime. But some of the best performances come from real-life residents of Carthage as they share their recollections on camera. Read full review
80
Village VoiceNick PinkertonApr 24, 2012
Richard Linklater's Bernie is the rarest of rarities: a truly unexpected film. It might be classified as a black comedy, for it deals with the murder of an 81-year-old woman in a fashion that is not exactly tragic. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovApr 25, 2012
Jack Black redeems himself (for Gulliver's Travels, among other things) with a subtly quirky performance that's one of his personal best. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMay 24, 2012
The question of why the law must always be upheld, regardless of consequences, gives this light, amiable movie a surprising heft and weight. You don't want to see Bernie sent to prison - the world is a better place without that mean old shrew - but murder is murder, right? Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterMay 18, 2012
Propelled by a perfectly cast trio of stars whose eccentricities shine in singular character roles, Bernie is a charmer. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 17, 2012
Interspersing "real" people with professional actors, Linklater creates a vivid, gossipy Greek chorus that serves as a kind of collective unreliable narrator -- an altogether appropriate stance given the moral gray zone the sweetly confounding Bernie inhabits. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 17, 2012
As composite sketches go, it's a good one. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 26, 2012
No use trying to describe Bernie. It's a one-of-a-kind inspiration. You will never feel closer to a convicted killer. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMay 11, 2012
On its own terms, Bernie is smoothly made and reasonably entertaining, Linklater doing his Austin-based best not to condescend to the locals - at least the East Carthage locals. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 26, 2012
Where the movie is at its best is in the comically laconic, straight-to-the-camera remarks offered by Carthage's residents. (They're played by a mix of local actors and real townspeople doing partially scripted versions of themselves.) Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid DenbyApr 23, 2012
It's an odd movie - mild in tone and circumspect, yet darkly funny, and done in a hybrid form that I don't think has been used so thoroughly before. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangApr 21, 2012
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 full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 17, 2012
Black gets to play an actual character instead of a loudmouthed cartoon. The movie's bright and endearing and surprisingly lacking in a point. I wish I liked it better. Read full review
More From This Movie

75 Critic Reviews

7.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 82 The Northman
2 81 Everything Everywhere All at Once
3 78 X
4 72 7 Days
5 72 Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL