The old adage “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it” can be applied to a plethora of films. Each genre has their defined strengths and weaknesses, and many are often forced or choose to operate within the confines of their playbook. That’s not always a bad thing, either. There’s a reason we keep making the same movies in their respective genre over and over again; they work. If they didn’t, The Hallmark Channel wouldn’t exist. “The Burial” is very much a part of this film genre discussion, offering a formulaic, predictable based on a true story courtroom drama that pits the little guy against the corporate giant.
It has everything you would expect; likable family man, unlikely hero lawyer, greedy CEO, shady business practices, shrewd opposition lawyers and plenty of shenanigans to Hollywoodify the courtroom. You’ve seen “The Burial” a thousand times before, but once again we return to the late, great Roger Ebert: “It’s not what the movie is about, it’s how it goes about it.”
On that front, “The Burial” is a triumph. A genuine crowd pleaser that brings nothing new to the table but manages to shine bright underneath its trope ridden and predictable plot. The film knows what it is, but more so knows WHO they have, and let the cliche restrictions run their course while giving immense freedom to its leads. It soon becomes impossible not to enjoy “The Burial,” and it manages to instill a cheerful joy and hopefulness as it moves along. Sure, it is loaded with check the box moments, leaving little to the imagination. You know everything that is going to happen before the film even starts, and can basically draw a map of the journey it’s going to take to get there. Despite this, “The Burial” still manages to be a surprise in just how good it does these tried and true things. Not everything needs to be subversive or boundary pushing. Sometimes you just need something familiar to wash over you and recharge your spirits. “The Burial” is crowd pleasing comfort food, the kind of film that warms your soul even if you can telegraph every emotional beat and outcome beforehand.
Written and directed by Maggie Betts (“The Carrier,” “Novitiate“) with famed playwright Doug Wright as a co-writer and story creator, “The Burial” loosely follows the true story of Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), an unconventional and outrageous personal injury lawyer who took on the case of funeral home owner Jerimiah Joseph O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) who sued The Lowen Funeral Company over a contract dispute. Gary is out of his depth in the case, as he knows very little about contract law, and The Lowen Funeral Company is a gigantic conglomerate hellbent on a total, hostile takeover of the industry. O’Keefe turned to them for help in hopes to secure his legacy for his family and keep his business afloat, hoping to sell off a few of his homes to cover some of his debt. He quickly discovers that the company sought to wait him out until he had no choice but to sell off his entire business and leave him destitute. He calls on Gary for help, and together they must stand up for the little guy and fight back against corporate greed, and they will have to face off against a team of the best contract lawyers money can buy to win. With the odds stacked against them, Gary and O’Keefe form a strong friendship and stand together in this classic David vs Goliath story.
The synopsis of “The Burial” should sound incredibly familiar to you, and make no mistake: it unfolds precisely as you would expect it to. There are no surprises here, and anyone with a quick Google search can read about the outcome of the case, and from the jump it is clear that this is going to be a film where the good guys win. But “The Burial” smartly owns this, and never tries too hard to pretend like we should be expecting something different. It uses the tropes of the courtroom interrogations and internal struggles to its advantage and owns the formula instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Even with the foreknowledge of outcome, “The Burial” still manages to be exciting and enthralling, providing us with charismatic characters we want to root for and feel good about investing in.
The real heavy lifting goes to Foxx, who is electric in “The Burial.” He shoulders what should be a rather bland and uninteresting exaggeration of a contract dispute case and carries it into a wildly entertaining watch. Foxx always works best when he’s allowed to inject himself and comedic styling into a role. He moves fast and talks faster, and films that don’t allow him room to breath often stifle his magnetism. Betts seems fully aware of who she has and what she wants from him, and lets Foxx run amok in “The Burial.” He’s not so outrageous that he’s unbelievable as a real person, but he’s able to make Gary his own and just over the top enough to be consistently compelling. This is really good work from Foxx, who kind of run circles around his counterparts. Not that Jones is bad by any means, but even though he is the catalyst of “The Burial’s” core story, he’s relegated to a supporting role in his own story. His friendship with Foxx is believable enough, but Betts is more interested in the rise of Gary from injury to contract than she is in the outcome of the case at hand.
There are plenty of other strong performers that turn in solid performances; Jurnee Smollett is great as the sort of Queen B of corporate defense lawyers, and has some exciting sparring matches with Foxx in the courtroom. Bill Camp as CEO Raymond Lowen is as reliable as ever, bringing a gravitas and the perfect amount of smugness to “the man” and is instantly unlikeable the minute we see him. That’s a good thing, by the way. Everyone is doing their best and you can tell they’re having a great time making “The Burial,” but it is Foxx who outshines them all. This is a breakout vehicle for a performer who’s already broken through, but solidifies his abilities as one of the best at what he does. “The Burial” doesn’t work quite as well without him, and for as good as Betts is behind the camera, it’s all Foxx and his performance that really brings the film to life.
There are some genuine script issues that leave some things to be desired, and there is a sense of intentional emotional manipulation that feels unearned at times. “The Burial” gets a little messy when it tries to expand its scope outside of the courtroom, but thanks to the stellar work from Foxx all of those misgivings are easily overlooked. It may not even be the best of its kind, but “The Burial” is so damn entertaining you find yourself getting swept up in its predictably rousing moments and cheering for the little guy. While I would recommend seeing it in a theater, “The Burial” is perfectly suited for streaming, and can still be just as enjoyable from the comfort of your own him.
Honestly, “The Burial” is worth the price of admission just to watch Tommy Lee Jones sing “Feels Good” by Tony! Toni! Tone!.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
“The Burial” plays in select theaters on Oct 6th and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video Oct. 13th. You can watch the trailer below.
