- aal1504
"Bernie" | Review and Analysis
Updated: Mar 25, 2022
2011 - Dark Comedy
Spoilers beware!
The movie, Bernie, was an interesting journey that will leave viewers shocked at the unexpected outcome. Bernie, starring celebrities such as Jack Black, Mathew McConaughey, and Shirley MacLaine, is advertised as a dark comedy, but feels like much more than that. In fact, I would go as far as to say the movie did not seem as much like a comedy, but more so historical fiction with comedic elements. I was thoroughly entertained the entire time and believed Jack Black did an incredible job in the leading role of Bernie Tiede. Even more so, I was shocked to learn at the end of the movie that it was based on a true story, with some of the townspeople even being real residents who knew Bernie and were from Carthage, Texas, where the story took place (according to IMDB).
Now, seeing as the central plot of the movie is him murdering her with that fact being mentioned in the bio for the film, I had known it was going to happen. However, after seeing how much of a good man he was throughout the movie, I still was not fully prepared for the actual murder to take place, leaving me with my jaw open when it did. Tiede, at first, did not seem real to me. He was super nice and generous in ways that I thought he must be hiding a dark secret whilst actually being a horrible person. It was my way of reasoning as to why he would kill her, and also for the simple fact that he seemed too perfect and too nice in ways you don’t always see in real life; but I was wrong. He never changed or had some “secret dark side to him”, and he was not “too good to be true”.
Tiede was a genuinely decent man who loved helping people, but was being horribly abused by the notoriously mean and “evil” Mrs. Nugent; so, he finally had enough. He spent years being made into practically her slave to do her bidding whilst enduring her grueling insults, which is why, even after her disappearance, it had taken nine months for anyone to find her body or even truly start looking for her. She was not liked by anyone in her family or her town, leaving only Tiede as the one person that attempted to make a connection with her. Murder is, of course, wrong, but you couldn’t help but feel for him in that moment and somewhat understand the reasoning behind why he did it. There’s only so much abuse one can take before they snap in some way or another; even for the kindest people in the world.
As one final point to note, let’s discuss where Tiede had hid Mrs. Nugent’s body. Tiede could’ve entirely gotten rid of the body to where no one would ever know what he did, nor have evidence of his crime should he end up a suspect. However, instead, he opted to hide her in her freezer. His reasoning? Because he wanted her to be preserved to receive a proper burial. He was expecting her to be found at some point, which is somewhat shocking to know that, despite what he had done and all that she had done to him, he didn’t anticipate, or even want, to get away with this forever. He knew people would start to question it, so when that time came and they started searching, he wanted his actions to be found out. Part of the reason he even waited so long was because Mrs. Nugent was a millionaire, so he had spent her money after she was deceased by giving back to the community. He bought people houses, business properties, parents’ items for their children (ex. Bounce house for a kid’s birthday) – all the while hardly spending that money on himself. He still lived in a tiny house, even behind on his own payments because he spent so much effort on giving back to other people.
The overall shocking part of all of this is how, yes, he may have committed murder, but there was the juxtaposition of just him wanting to spread happiness and give back to others, only to end up snapping one day from years of abuse and trauma. He, like Mrs. Nugent, was a victim in all of this. His kind-heart made it to where, even after confessing to the murder, townspeople rallied behind him because they had known the brutal nature of Mrs. Nugent. Mrs. Nugent shouldn’t have been murdered, and there does come a point when being nice it too much. It’s important to put yourself first sometimes. Furthermore, even though he was helping the townspeople, he had no right to Mrs. Nugent’s money. But was he a completely evil, heartless monster? No.
