Jack Black is undeniably hysterical in this slightly dark comedy. He plays Bernie, whose day job is a funeral director, but in acutuality Bernie has so many more talents--he sings, he dances, he prances, and he is flawlessly talented and likable at all times. He is prissy and effeminate--and unmarried. The implication is that he is in the closet, everyone know that the he is gay, but nobody minds, even though it is East Texas. The movie unfolds as a documentary (or docu-drama), with thre big names, and a lot of bit parts, some of which are played by real Carthage, Texas residents. Usually I am put off by that style, but it worked for me in this movie. Bernie befriends Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), who is an impossibly wealthy widow he met at her husband's funeral. She wants to travel, and Bernie goes with her. She is also the meanest person in Carthage, and no one will stand up to her. Money wears the pants in that town. Why does Berni do it? Hard to say. Is it greed, kindness, a need to please? Bernie is so funny and unpretentious, it's possible to overlook the answer.
The third major character serves as the supposed voice of reason, the District Attorney, Danny ''Buck'' Davidson, played by Matthew McConaughey in all his drawling, showboating glory. I wouldn't have recognized him--none of the glitzy, sexy character. He is stripped down here. He left his 'fuck me' boots at home for this movie, and plays the man who keeps telling us he is doing the right thing, but who nobody likes.
The story unwinds to an entirely predictable conlcusion--getting there is where the fun lies.
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