Bernie

"Bernie, a triumph of small-scale, regional pulp, doesn’t quite operate as a menacing thriller, nor as a one-note yokel comedy."

"Interspersing "real" people with professional actors, Linklater creates a vivid, gossipy Greek chorus that serves as a kind of collective unreliable narrator -- an altogether appropriate stance given the moral gray zone the sweetly confounding Bernie inhabits."

"Gaudily vibrant, at times morbidly funny."

"No use trying to describe Bernie. It's a one-of-a-kind inspiration. You will never feel closer to a convicted killer."

"I had to forget what I knew about Black. He creates this character out of thin air, it's like nothing he's done before, and it proves that an actor can be a miraculous thing in the right role."

"A splendid performance by Jack Black distinguishes this overly mild look at a 1990s Texas murder."

"Though the lightness of Bernie can get disconcerting at times, even cartoonish, Linklater approaches the story with a bemused curiosity that seems about right under the circumstances."