Review: Bernie

Bernie

Dir. Richard Linklater

Country: USA

Aus Rating: M15+

Running Time: 104mins

Small Town, USA, has been the setting of so many films centred on the dubious nature of “know thy neighbour” that it’s nice to see one come along that feels fresh, despite still working well within the wheelhouse of contemporary cinema. Director Richard Linklater has blended the mockumentary, the sun-kissed indie, the southern gothic, the Soderbergh farce, and the Jack Black comedy into something wholly fun, quirky, and yet stinging in its darkness. It manages to feel unique and different despite looking unambitious upon initial glance. It’s funny too, which certainly helps, and is benefited immensely by a wonderful cast of big names and unknowns that help make this Linklater’s freshest film in quite some time.

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Review: Me and Orson Welles

The career of cult director Richard Linklater has been a varied and often wonderful thing to behold. From the high school comedy of Dazed and Confused to the Parisian romance of Before Sunset and the animated science fiction of A Scanner Darkly, Linklater has scuttled from genre to genre with ease. Now he takes a detour back to 1930s New York to tell the tale of Orson Welles’ famed Broadway revival of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It’s an at times ambitious, but frustratingly limited, film that gets by on the energy of its cast.

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I don't have anything extra to say about this movie, really, other than what's in the review. B-