Jack Black plays Bernie Tiede, an East Texas funeral director who is the nicest guy ever to live on this earth. The entire town loves Bernie and he is the only one who can crack the rocky exterior of the wealthy local widow Marjorie Nugent. Black befriends Nugent, becomes her confidant, gets written into her will, becomes basically enslaved by her and then she disappears. This story is based on a real life tale and is filmed in a semi-documentary style with lots of "interviews" with the local townsfolk. Walking out of the theater, I heard "That is a definite Oscar film". I don't necessarily agree that it was that good. I found Black's character to be a bit flat and his sweetness was more saccharine that genuine. I did enjoy the fact that Black put his vocal chops on display, singing several old standards as he performed at funerals. In fact, the singing and the local interviews made this worth while.
3 stars (out of 5)
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