Bernie

A mortician in a small Texas town (Jack Black) befriends a rich, cantankerous old widow (Shirley MacLaine); soon they’re taking trips all over the world on her dime. Director Richard Linklater and co-writer Skip Hollandsworth (adapting Hollandsworth’s magazine article) recount the true story of Bernhardt Tiede, currently serving a life sentence for the murder of wealthy Marjorie Nugent. The movie adopts the style of a Dateline NBC true-crime feature, mixing dramatization and interviews with local townspeople (some of whom are the real McCoy). We’re probably not getting the whole story—we’re left with a clear impression that Tiede did the world a favor by blowing the old battle-ax away—but the movie is wry and stranger-than-fiction quirky, and Black gives the performance of his career (so far).