Jamie Foxx is Tommy Lee Jones’ lawyer The funerallegal drama reminiscent of Erin Brockovich.
Of course, when we watch The Burial, we’ll immediately think of Erin Brockovich. This story – also inspired by true events – pits a David (in this case Tommy Lee Jones as the owner of a family funeral business) against a Goliath (in the case of…). Bill Camp as a Canadian billionaire who breaks a contract), all against the backdrop of systemic racism in the US South.
It’s the 1990s when Jerry O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) and Ray Loewen (Bill Camp) seal a verbal agreement with a handshake. O’Keefe, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, sold three of his funeral homes to him at a good price. But now Loewen is breaking his word and refusing to keep it. O’Keefe therefore decides to take him to court and seeks a lawyer. He chooses Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx), a flamboyant lawyer whose colorful shirts, gold glasses and effective rhetoric make him a formidable opponent in the courtroom.
The trial quickly becomes a legal conflict between billionaires and workers, between rich and poor, white and black, men of profit and men of value, with Gary’s eloquence emphasizing – sometimes violently – the gulf that separates the two men.
Brilliantly carried by the two Oscar-winning actors, together with the likeable Mamoudou Athie (as a young lawyer, a kind of apprentice to Gary) and the efficient Jurnee Smollett (as Loewen’s lawyer), “The Burial” is a successful one despite its highly predictable scenario Film those films that feel good… especially in these gray times.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
“The Burial” is available on Prime Video from October 13th.