Richard Linklater already has one former collaborator in the ensemble for his new dark comedy Bernie, in the shape of Jack “School of Rock” Black. And now he’s adding another veteran from his past work with the casting of Matthew “Dazed and Confuzed” McConaughey.
Bernie follows the misadventures of a mortician (Black) who is something of a Renaissance man and community leader in the small town of Carthage, Texas. He somehow develops a friendship with a local rich, difficult widow (Shirley MacLaine), but then he accidentally kills her. Cue comic shenanigans as he tries to convince everyone she’s still alive.
Now he’ll have a serious thorn in his side, with McConaughey playing the town’s ambitious district attorney, a man who’s always looking for ways to win over the voters and who targets the suspicious circumstances around Bernie and his not-so-lively friend.
Linklater co-wrote the script with Skip Hollandsworth and will start cranking the cameras this month in Austin, Texas.