Bernie is based on the 1996 murder of 81-year old millionaire Marjorie Nugent by her boyfriend?, Bernie Tiede, in Carthage, TX. Sounds pretty gruesome but the movie is actually pretty funny.
Bernie is an assisant funeral director in Carthage and everyone in the town loves him. He goes the extra mile for everyone he comes across, is a faithful member of the church and is the type of man I wouldn't mind Kate marrying (besides the murderer part).
After Marjorie's husband dies, she turns into quite the sour witch. She beats people with brooms, is rude to everyone she comes across and makes Clint Eastwood look like Mr. Rogers. Bernie feels bad for her, so he does his best to know that she is cared for and eventually, she opens up to him and the two become in inseparable.
Marjorie has plenty of dough, so they travel the world together and become quite the item. Eventually, she starts to turn mean and possessive, even to him. At first, Bernie does his best to smile and tolerate it until one day he snaps and shoots her in the back with the "armadillo gun" and then throws her in the freezer for nearly a year before he gets busted.
The movie mixes in a little bit of documentary format as members of the community are interviewed throughout the movie. It's funny to to see them portray the typical East Texas stereotypes as they talk about their views, stereotypes and thoughts about the situation. It's also interesting to see what people's true views of good and evil really are. Like most indie type movies, the film started to drag on for a bit but overall, I thought it was good watch.
