Bernie Movie 2012

Movie Information

Directed by: Richard Link later

Produced by: Liz Glotzer, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Shane Stanger, Alex Gudim, Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, and Judd Payne.

Written by: Skip Holland worth, Richard Link later.

Starring: Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Shirley McLain.

Music by: Graham Reynolds

Cinematography: Dick Pope

Editing by: Sandra Adair

Studio: Mandalay Vision, Wind Dancer Films, Castle Rock Entertainment.

Distributed by: Millennium Entertainment

Release Date: June 16, 2011 (LAFF) |March 2, 2012 (United States)

Country: United States

Language: English

Plot: Local mortician Bernie Tilde (Black) befriends a rich widow (McLane) in a small Texas town. He murders Nugent after growing weary of her persistent nagging and non-stop put downs, but no one misses her for months until the local district attorney (McConaughey) begins to investigate. In the meantime, many citizens of the small, East Texas town of Carthage rally to the murderer's defense, and demand that the authorities go easy on Tiete for the killing of the elderly Nugent.

Screenplay: In an interview with Link later published on June 17, 2011, the director told Indie Wire that the screenplay he co-wrote with Skip Holland worth was a boring read, and that "the gossip element almost kept the film from being made, because it reads boring. I said, “But they’ll be funny characters. I could just imagine the accents.

Controversy: The making of the film, based on an article in Texas Monthly magazine by Skip Holland worth, who also co-wrote the comedic film with Link later, has divided many of the citizens of Carthage, Texas, the small town in East Texas where the Nugent murder occurred. In the film, Link later includes interviews with several Carthage residents about their feelings of support for Bernie Tiede. Some citizens hope the film will stimulate an increase in tourism, while others have voiced anger that a comedy film was derived from the events surrounding the murder of an 81 year-old woman.

"You can't make a dark comedy out of a murder," says Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson (portrayed in the film by McConaughey). "This movie is not historically accurate," adds Davidson, who says that Nugent's story is missing. "The movie does not tell her side of the story." "If it was fiction it might be funny, but this was a real person in a real town and no, I don't think it's funny at all," says Carthage resident Toni Clements who knew both Tiete and Nugent. Owners of the Hawthorn Funeral Home in Carthage, Texas, where Bernie Tiete met Marjorie Nugent, refused to allow the film to use the name of the funeral home in the movie. “We felt we did not want the Hawthorn Funeral Home name or family name thought of in a dark comedy... you always know locally these are real people and families so there is a sting.” "I've now seen the movie Bernie twice and, except for a few insignificant details ... it tells the story pretty much the way it happened," Joe Rhodes, Nugent's nephew, wrote in The New York Times Magazine shortly before the film's general release. However, his cousin Rod, Nugent's only child, did not return his calls and had his lawyer send Rhodes a letter strongly insinuating the possibility of legal action. "I guarantee he won't like it.