I laughed. And laughed.

Bernie is based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 1998 article in Texas Monthly titled “Midnight in the Garden of East Texas.” It was so titled because of its similarity to John Berendt’s massive bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: a picturesque small town, a weird murder, bizarre and hilarious supporting characters, and a protagonist who is as gay as he is loved by the town’s little old ladies. But Bernie is quite unlike Clint Eastwood’s film based on Midnight; it’s good. Fascinating, odd, and very, very funny, it’s my favorite Linklater film (he also made Dazed and Confused and Before Sunset, among others), and it is without a doubt the performance of Jack Black’s career. Continue…