From time to time I like to give a review of a movie Mrs. Cohn Zohn and I see. Today we saw “Bernie,” an interesting flick, very well acted, that somehow does not work. It does not work in an interesting way and you may want to see it — in lots of ways it is worth seeing.

It’s worth seeing because Jack Black is just great and so is Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey is terrific, the best I’ve ever seen him. I mean he’s immensely talented and I always thought he was just a standard Hollywood pretty boy.

Director Richard Linklater (“Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” I love those two) tells the story of Bernie (I won’t give it away, but it’s based on a real person) and uses real people from a Texas town to speak about him. The idea is brilliant. The execution is not as strong. Too bad.

The movie goes on too long, is a little dull and some of the townspeople are not interesting enough. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give this a 2 1/2. If you see it, please write in. Thanks.