I haven’t weighed in on the passing of Bernie Mac for two reasons, the first being a rather craven, solipsistic one—as a 49-year-old man who may or may not be facing health issues that may or may not have arisen as a result of pursuing certain appetites, news of the death of a 50-year-old man who…well, you get the idea. 
The second is a bit more complicated. It’s difficult to assess a career that’s so, for lack of a better word, bitsy. Mac was in a some bad movies (B.A.P.S, anyone?), some flat-out underrated movies (the original Friday, anyone?). some movies that deserve to be reassessed but even given that probably won’t turn out to be masterpieces (I’m particularly interested in giving another shot to Life, and, call me crazy, The Player’s Club), one quirky, nasty, indie (Bad Santa) and three mainstream blockbuster entertainment (the Ocean’s pictures). And he was inimitable in all of them, all virtuoso timing and crackling charm. I particularly like the sly pride his Frankie Catton character takes in his part of the con in Ocean’s 13, as if he almost can’t believe people are falling for his high-tech 3‑card-monte variant, while at the same time knowing it can’t fail because he’s so smooth. And then there was the stand-up, very old-school (how many times have you heard that joke that got him in a little hot water at that Obama fundraiser?) but always killer, and then the sitcom stuff. There’s a lot there. And for all that, it seemed like he was just getting started. And right now it certainly seems that he didn’t leave us with enough.
Bernie.
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The Bernie Mac show is grossly underrated. Never failed to make me laugh. He was a unique voice in mainstream American entertainment.
Glen, what’s going on with you? Are you sick? I’m sorry to hear that. Is it the liver or the lungs?
Wow. How very forward or you, Futura II.
I was stunned to hear about Bernie Mac, and pretty much agree with your assessment of his career, Glenn. He was immensely talented and charismatic guy who, outside of his stand-up, only really made his mark in the “Ocean’s” movies, “Bad Santa”, and his sporadically great TV show. But he could have shown us a lot more, down the road, had he not been dealt this very unlucky hand.
Am I the only person here who saw Mr. 3000? That was a decent movie (relative to my expectations, anyway) and he was very good in it.
And who can forget his inimitable cameo in last year’s Transformers? Oh yeah, everyone, because the whole thing was completely forgettable.
Indeed, DUH, “Mr. 3000” was a bit better than expected (not great by a long shot though), and Mac was really fine in it. His car-salesman schtick in “Transformers” recalls his “Ocean’s” work—he does love working the con!—but then again, yeah, it was in “Transformers.” Which is, as they say, central to my point.
@Futura II: Dude. Seriously.
What? You don’t want people to ask, then don’t mention it. What’s the point of being coy? Hey, here, I’ll tell you something about myself: I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis two years ago. Totally out of the blue. I have no idea how I got it. I’m still debating whether or not to go on meds, which are kind of a low-level form of chemo. Turns you all yellow.
Futura II, I wasn’t being coy—I used the phrase “may or may not” very deliberately. My issues at the moment are pretty banal—I gotta lose a buncha weight, get into some semblance of shape, and stay away from stuff that I might not have felt much compunction about as recently as seven years—or even seven months!—ago.I don’t imagine this makes me unique among 49-year-olds. I’m sorry to hear of your condition, and hope things work out for you.
Not to get this too off-topic (although I suppose it is in a way related), I, too, have health issues to deal with that stem from having once done certain things, but the issue is a manageable one, and I am doing so with a fair degree of success, and I can, with some optimism, look forward to a long and healthy etc.
The point being, Glenn, that if the “may or may not” ends up leaning more towards “may”, you mustn’t despair. So, you know, don’t.
Yeah, I thought you sounded a little sick, Bill.
*Cough cough* *HACK*
Aw, heck, Doug, I’m fine. You and me are still goin’ ta California, ain’t we? Boy, I can’t wait to see all them pretty girls!
*COUGH COUGH COUGH HACK*
Me, I’m just a little shocked that in this day and age a well-off man in the nation with the best medical care in the world can die of pneumonia.
Bernie Mac didn’t die in Sweden, Dan.
He didn’t just have pneumonia. He also had sarcoidosis, which I know next to nothing about, apart from the fact that it’s a serious pulmonary condition. Add that to pneumonia, and suddenly the pneumonia’s a lot worse.
BAD SANTA’s a great film!
I’ve got pains in my back, and a tingling in my left hand. I think these symptoms are both booze-related. Apart from that, I’m fine.
Bill, sarcoidosis is manageable but not curable, it shows a huge, weird range of symptoms, and its source is still unknown. You can have it bad or have it light. Bernie Mac’s sarcoid was not very serious, but he was on a huge amount of medications for it and other problems, which led to his body being unable to process what he needed to take for the pneumonia. An unlucky cocktail of symptoms and would-be cures led to the premature loss of a great talent and a fine man. Very sad all around.
Thanks, Bill, for the kind words, and Demi for the med expertise.
Hey, Player’s Club is a good film. No shame there. I love that a future Oscar nominee is credited in it as “Big Mike Duncan”.
I was really sad to hear about Bernie. He was a unique and inimitable presence. His performance in Original Kings Of Comedy was the only one of the quartet in that film to transcend humor and lift off into Pryor-esque drama–while remaining FUNNY. His explanation of how to use the word “fuck” (“As an adjective, noun and verb!”) made me laugh ’til I hurt.
And hope things are okay health-wise, GK.
Agreed, most people would know him for his TV series, which ran nearly five years, not to mention The Original Kings Of Comedy. And I guess I’m the only one who remembers him in WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?
In the Original Kings of Comedy, it was clear he was the headliner and the most popular, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. He was hilarious and vulnerable at the same time. In the behind the scenes stuff, he complained that he was the only one of the Kings who DIDN’T have his own series, and then, bam, he got one. Still, it seems he didn’t have nearly as much success as he deserved, and his early death saddens me, though mostly because I won’t get to hear any new material from him.