It wouldn't be stretching the truth to say that Marjorie Nugent (Shirley Maclaine) -- a widow with lots of money but few friends -- was universally considered difficult by her Carthage, Texas, neighbors. When Marjorie's powerful husband died, the person who wound up comforting her the most was a man universally considered a good egg: assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede (Jack Black). Their friendship quickly became an oddity; how could two people so different -- not only was she meaner, but she was also much older than Bernie -- get along so well? But soon, they began spending most of their free time together, shopping, traveling, and setting gossips afire. So when Marjorie ended up missing and everyone learned that Bernie might have been responsible, the town was spun on its head. Bernie, based on real-life events and featuring many Carthage denizens, takes a look at the scandalous circumstances that were chronicled in the pages of Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth, a journalist who co-wrote the movie's screenplay.