#7 - Jack Black is Back

7 – BERNIE: This is another under-the-radar little movie that kept me laughing for the whole 90 minutes.  Jack Black plays a metrosexual, eccentric, perfectionist mortician  who is seemingly involved in EVERY activity around his rural Texas town, and the town loves him.  Whether it's fundraising, the local church, or random hobbies, he's everywhere.   He becomes enamored with a soul-crushing shrew of a widow, and her control over him eventually drives him to take drastic action.  Enter Matthew McConaughey as the prideful, swaggering prosecuting attorney and let the games begin.  (continues after the jump)

Every element of small town life gets a joke or a riff, but in a lovable way, and the movie never plays for laughs in a derogatory or demeaning fashion.  The way gossip spreads is highlighted, and often the townsfolk speak directly to the cameras like a documentary.  Also explored is the issue of relationships between people of different ages and relationships solely for wealth, although this case is the exact opposite of the typical Playboy bunny story.  An awesome job by Jack and Matthew here, and this was the funniest movie of the year for me.  And it’s based on a true story.