- Title: The Burial
- IMDb: link
Based on true events, The Burial offers the odd couple pairing of Tommy Lee Jones as the owner of a family funeral business in Mississippi who enlists the help of a flashy attorney (Jamie Foxx) after being taken advantage by the CEO (Bill Camp) of a Canadian company that backed out of a deal that would have saved the family business. The curmudgeonly Jeremiah O’Keefe (Jones) and the flashy Willie E. Gary (Foxx) have their ups and downs, but the film is as much (if not more) about the respect and friendship that develops between the unlikely pair as the court case itself.
Despite being a little uneven in places, with the more serious moments of the film clashing against the rest of the film’s lighter tone, The Burial is worth seeing primarily for the performances of Foxx, Jones, and both Mamoudou Athie (as Jerry’s fresh from law school friend who plays a pivotal role in bringing Jerry and Willie together and in the final verdict) and Jurnee Smollett as the head of the opposing legal team.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of both Smollet and Athie who both make the most of their supporting roles. Camp is also having fun as the rich son of a bitch who never believes the law can touch him. The cast is rounded out by Alan Ruck as Jerry’s old friend and lawyer who struggles working alongside Willie, and Pamela Reed and Amanda Warren as the wives of our two main characters. The film works best when steering into character, flamboyant courtroom displays, and huge late-night discoveries, and gets a bit lost when hastily racing over more controversial aspects of its characters or legal precedent and proceedings. When it leads with its heart, the film from director Maggie Betts hits its marks more often than not.
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