The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2014: Bernie (2011), directed by Richard Linklater

The Trailer

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The Appropriate Tune: "Murder of One", by Counting Crows

     You’ll remember way back in entry 43, assuming you read these in order like a normal, that I described Packer’s story in Cannibal! The Musical by using the old adage ‘truth is often stranger than fiction’. While there certainly no mystical dragons or space aliens flying around, it’s definitely a fact that events and stories that happen in real life are often quite extraordinary. You’ll recall, for example, that bit of news a while back about the crazed female astronaut who was caught driving cross-country to kill another astronaut while wearing an adult diaper? Or the miserable case of Ed Gein, who murdered people and used their bodies to make furniture? Or every single news story that comes out of Florida, perhaps. The real world is a fucked up place sometimes, and occasionally you have to take a step back and take a look.

     Speaking of true stories, Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) and released by Millennium Entertainment, is indeed based on a true story, about an actual murder that took place in real life. Jack Black portrays the title role of Bernie Tiede, a funeral director who lived and worked in the small town of Carthage. By all accounts Bernie was a beloved member of the community: kind, generous, a man who made friends with everyone he met and always gave 110% percent when it came to helping out people in need. If there was one negative thing that could be said about Bernie, it was perhaps that he was too generous; too easily swayed by the personality of someone more assertive than him. When he comes to the attention of Ms. Nugent (Shirley Maclaine), Carthage’s resident rich old hag, it starts off a chain reaction that spells disaster for everyone involved. A case of fatal attraction if ever there was one, but District Attorney Danny Davidson (Matthew McConaughey) finds that’s it’s a little difficult to get the conviction on Bernie when no one in Carthage has the heart to convict him. Comedy abounds, Jack Black gets some singing in, it’s all good.

     The only real problem that I have with Bernie as a film is that I’m confused as direction Linklater planned to take it. The presents itself as a mockumentary, interviewing the residents of the town and such , but at the same time there are large sections of the film that are just acted as a normal film and have no connection to the mockumentary style at all. Are we supposed to assume that everything that we see in that case in a reenactment? Because there’s no indication of that being the case. I might be overthinking it at little, but i just found it irksome. Aside from that though it’s a fun little black comedy, and Jack Black tones himself down a bit in order to give a great comedic performance. Definitely a fun movie for any Halloween.

The Long Dark Marathon of the Soul 2015: A Scanner Darkly (2006), directed by Richard Linklater

The Trailer

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The Appropriate Tune: "Ain't It Funny", by Danny Brown

     Philip K. Dick. In the world of science fiction literature there are few names which carry the same level of respect outside of that specific genre. From his first work written in 1950 up until his last in 1982, Dick, in the tradition of H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft before him, helped to capture the unique nature of the society and channel it in new and interesting ways. Questions of identity and the role of the individual, the increasing power of faceless corporations and the rise of the military industrial complex in the wake of the first major American/Soviet conflict or what you M*A*S*H fans might know as the Korean War, all of these (including his increasingly deteriorating mental state in later years, as a result of an untreated mental illness) helped to inform Dick’s distinct view on life and thus his writing. To some critics it might be considered exercises in paranoia, a latent schizophrenic managing to maintain his increasingly erratic thoughts long enough to bang out some stories. But to those who are receptive to it, myself included, his stories are filled with fascinating ideas and chilling possibilities for mankind, even if they leaned more towards the speculative rather than the scientific.

     There have been a number of films based on works by Philip K. Dick: Blade Runner (directed by Ridley Scott), Total Recall (helmed by Robocop director Paul Verhoeven, later remade in a lackluster 2012 effort by Len Wiseman), Minority Report (directed by Steven Spielberg) and of course A Scanner Darkly, directed by Richard Linklater, whose film Bernie appeared in last year’s Marathon. Notable at the time for it’s all-star cast, including Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson, and its distinctive art style. Seven years from now, in Anaheim, California, the city, and perhaps the entire country, is being racked by illegal narcotics, the deadliest and most prolific of which is known as Substance D. To combat this ever-growing threat, the Orange County Police Department have become an entity unto itself, with narcotics agents, aka ‘scanners’, so deep undercover that they don’t even know who each other are, due to the ‘scramble suits’ they wear, which completely obfuscates their appearance. However, what happens when the person you’ve been assigned to monitor is yourself? What happens when you’ve taken so much Substance D you’re not even sure who the real ‘you’ is meant to be? Such is the case with ‘Fred’, also known as Bob Arctor, who finds himself pulled into a mind-bending conspiracy where, to abuse a cliche, nothing is as it seems. Especially the aphids.

     I guess if I were to say anything negative about A Scanner Darkly, it’s that during the second half, when things are falling into place, it feels like the movie hits a wall and then you’re just waiting to see things play out. In that, I think the original story probably does it better. Other than that, I think Linklater manages to capture that near nihilistic, end-with-a-twist-and-leave-’em-thinking kind of science fiction that writers like Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury and of course Philip K. Dick were known for and adapting it film just as well if not better than Verhoeven or Truffaut managed to do, although personally I can’t help but feel the ‘age’ of the material despite a modern sheen . The cast really work off each other well, RDJ and Harrelson in particular really carry those scenes in the first half, although you could argue whether Keanu’s ‘Keanu-ness’ is a low point or an effective performance of a perpetual burnout. The animation style could be seen as a gimmick at first, but on the other hand it is an effective way to not only give the audience the feel of heightened reality but also to easily convey concepts like the scramble suit and Arctor’s hallucinations. Overall, and I don’t mean to sound insulting, but it’s a really firm B movie for me. It looks interesting, I like the concept and some of the characters, but as a whole I think it never really grabbed me like Blade Runner grabbed me, or entertained me like Total Recall entertained me. Maybe on a second viewing or after reading the original work I’d feel differently, but first impressions wise I’d say it falls short of a must watch, unless you love the work of Richard Linklater/Philip K. Dick, in which case you were going to watch it anyway. Even if it’s not a must-watch though, it’s still a good movie, so I have no issue with recommending it this Halloween.