‘I mean, Jerry’s a dream client. He’s got a great narrative‘
I love a courtroom drama, me. I’ve realised over the years that more than anything else, it’s words that I love. When it comes to music I’m lyrics first, sounds second. I’ve never stopped being awestruck by the ability a good book has to transport me to a different world entirely. And this means that with cinema, I love films that are basically just a bunch of people saying stuff. This is why courtroom dramas are so appealing. All the speeches. All the grandstanding. Wonderful. The Burial is a great example of the genre…
When Jeremiah O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) finds himself in financial trouble he plans to sell off some of his funeral homes to local billionaire Ray Loewen (Bill Camp). When the deal goes south, O’Keefe brings in an inexperienced injury lawyer (Jamie Foxx) to fight his corner. Foxx works alongside rookie lawyer Hal (Mamoudou Athie) and more experienced good ol’ boy Mike (Alan Ruck) to pull together a miracle.
While The Burial follows all the same plot beats and tropes as any number of movies about the little guy taking on The Man, and the irony of such a story appearing as an Amazon Original shouldn’t be discounted, Maggie Betts’ film remains an entertaining and life-affirming underdog story. Doug Wright’s script is brought to life in a vivacious turn from Foxx and while Bill Camp is a little too pantomime villain as the moustache-twirling antagonist, there are some lovely interchanges between Jones, Foxx and Ruck that really make the whole thing tick.
The Burial breaks absolutely no new ground at all, but it is a true story, and it is compelling. The quality of the acting alone is worth the admission fee and fans of the humble courtroom drama will deliver a positive verdict, of that I have no doubt. I rest my case.