It’s been a while since indie and sometimes mainstream filmmaker Richard Linklater has had a major hit. His last few films “Me And Orson Welles,” “Fast Food Nation” and “A Scanner Darkly” all quietly came and went but his next effort “Bernie” — which notably finds him reteaming with “School Of Rock” star Jack Black and “Dazed & Confused” thesp Matthew McConaughey — could be the comeback he needs, and is certainly one we’re looking forward to.
The Los Angeles Film Festival has announced that Linklater’s film will open and get its world premiere at the event which kicks off on June 16th. Starring Black, McConaughey, Shirley MacLaine and Rip Torn (awesome cast), the black comedy centers on the titular character (Black), a beloved mortician in small Texas town who befriends a mean old widow (MacLaine) and commits a horrific crime. It’s based on a true-crime story out of East Texas that Linklater wrote 10 years ago, and when we spoke to Linklater last year he described it as, “my ‘Fargo‘ in East Texas, where I grew up, so it’s crazy local with fifty characters.” Sounds pretty damn great.
Austin composer Graham Reynolds, who worked on “A Scanner Darkly,” has returned for those duties here. No release date, but with the star power on board, should the reception for the film be strong, it will likely get snapped up by a distributor in a heartbeat. The Los Angeles Film Festival runs from June 16-26.
