Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Bill Camp, Alan Ruck, Mamoudou Athie, Jurnee Smollett
Intro:
… a genuine feel good movie …
Loosely based on a New Yorker article from the late ‘90s, The Burial is a courtroom drama that sees a mom and pop business go up against the might of a billon dollar conglomerate; though perhaps not in a business you would expect.
The film sees funeral business owner, Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) entering into financial strife. He agrees to sell a handful of funeral homes to a multinational group, headed up by CEO Ray Loewen (Bill Camp), but when the deal starts looking like it’s going to be taking Jermiah for a ride, family friend and attorney Hal (Mamoudou Athie) convinces him to sue the company.
Into the arena walks Willie E. Gary, played passionately by Jamie Foxx. Willie escaped poverty at a young age and has never stopped since. Portrayed initially as a glorified ambulance chaser, Willie has a large black clientele for whom he fights tooth and nail to win their cases. Jeremiah is a rarity for him though, not simply because he’s white. The funeral director’s case is about contracts, and Willie, as is pointed out regularly, doesn’t do contract law.
There are moments where The Burial is so earnest, it shouldn’t work. When Foxx gives a morale boosting monologue in the courtroom to the accompaniment of a swelling orchestra on the soundtrack, it should feel overwrought. Almost a parody. The fact that it just about gets away with it, is a testament to how good the film is.
Although this is Jeremiah’s case, Willie is our hero, clashing regularly with defence attorney Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett). He’s outspoken, methodical and is unconcerned if people are uncomfortable around him. Working with lawyer Mike Allred (Alan Ruck), Willie is quick to notice potential prejudice bubbling under the surface. Exposing Mike’s prejudices is a precursor to what Willie and Hal expose as they dig further into Loewen’s business.
As an audience looking in, we’ve become accustomed to stories about America’s dire healthcare system, but it’ll blow your mind when you discover the lack of morality that comes with the country’s ‘deathcare’ system.
Unsurprisingly, race plays a large part in The Burial. It can’t be passed by that initially Willie’s skin colour is seen as a way to win over a predominately black jury. Later, Mike’s tenuous link to the KKK is used as a means of destroying Jeremiah’s character as an antiracist. And while these moments are used to open up discussion about race, The Burial isn’t naïve to suggest that all society’s issues will be solved with this one case, or that there will never be another cross burnt in the American South. Like Blackkklansman, the film acknowledges that those who were oppressed are still being oppressed and society needs to start holding people’s feet closer to the fire.
With Tommy Lee Jones sanding down his usually gruff persona to play a gentler role, and Jamie Foxx cranking it up to 11, The Burial is a genuine feel good movie and it wouldn’t be surprising if this one does the rounds in For Your Consideration circles.
