Directed By Maggie Betts

Starring – Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett

The Plot – Inspired by true events, when a handshake deal goes sour, funeral home owner Jeremiah O’Keefe (Jones) enlists charismatic, smooth-talking attorney Willie E. Gary (Foxx) to save his family business. Tempers flare and laughter ensues as the unlikely pair bond while exposing corporate corruption and racial injustice in this inspirational, triumphant story.

Rated R for adult language

The Burial – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube

POSITIVES

Courtroom dramas aren’t as prominent with film as they were twenty years ago, but Maggie Betts commands some inspiring choices with the focus of her film that not only that not only effortlessly articulate the importance of this case to American history, but also does it by zeroing in on some unique angles to courtroom preparation that values lawyers in ways that very few films have chosen to. By spending a majority of its time outside of the courtroom, one could deduce that the trial itself won’t come across as dramatically important to the proceedings, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, instead utilizing behind-the-scenes psychologies and various power struggles through the confines of racism, ageism, and sexism that deploy an even stronger emphasis in the approaches of day-to-day deliberations. Beyond this, Betts risks everything with her abundance of personality for characters and their respective time period that comes across in the many technical advances that spawns a cultural uniqueness to this engagement. The soundtrack generating 90’s R&B artists like Tony Toni Tone and Salt N Pepa conjures an unshakeable influence each and every time the story comes across Foxx’s unshakeable swagger as Willie E. Gary, and the various subtleties of editing transitions artisticaly tap into the schemes and spectacle that remained prominent during the edge of 21st century cinema, without ever using them as a creative crutch that takes away from the focus of the narrative. Instead, her elements of familiarity are never heavy-handed or obvious, and the film seamlessly sinks into a drawer of 90’s predecessors because of it, with a naturalistic appeal to its presentation that she captures in spades. Equally adding to these engaging elements are the dynamically contrasting turns from Foxx and Jones, who equally appraise meaningful merit to the execution of their respective personalities. Foxx is a three ring circus in all of the best meanings of the term, with endless charisma and confidence that vividly articulate how Gary was referred to as “The Giant Killer” in various courtroom battles with major conglomerates, and Tommy Lee Jones implements refreshing ingredients of heart and humanity that prove amply opportunistic in the depth of his capabilities, which often get forgotten in some of the unfortunate roles that he has been saddled with during the last decade. Together, the two tap into a challenging dynamic and corresponding chemistry that serves the expansion of their characters tremendously, all the while offering each of them moments to play effectively palpable towards the film’s dual tonal halves.

NEGATIVES

As to where the Jeremiah and Willie characters are explored with the kind of three-dimensional depth that vividly illustrates the personalities and character flaws of each, the supporting cast are cruely underwritten, with some examples feeling like much was left on the cutting room floor of this already two hour engagement. Smollett’s character is fascinating for a ton of reasons, but the biggest is obviously her ability to rise to the top of an industry dominated by men, yet Betts deduces her as an opposing figure whose only defining trait seems to be her attempts to intimidate and jar Foxx into making a mistake, which only undercuts Smollett’s capabilities as a commanding force of dramatic intensity that she was known for in “Lovecraft Country”. Equally debilitated by this is Mamoudou Athie’s Hal Dockins, who initially tumbles with Foxx and Alan Ruck to make a place of his own in the story, but is then given nothing to do for almost the entirety of the film. I feel like his youth could’ve played an integral role in the discussion of preconceived prejudices in law, and if this story was portrayed in a series instead of a film, that an entire episode would be dedicated to his character’s importance. On top of the script’s shoddy focus, it’s also a bit shamelessly self-indulgent in both the scenes of connection between racially diverse characters that I thought we left behind in Oscar-winner “Green Book”, but also the barrage of courtroom tropes, which make us feel like we’ve seen this film, even when we haven’t. While nothing is as nauseating as two characters supressing racism by sharing a bucket of chicken, Keefe’s grooving to Tony Toni Tone’s “Feel Good” is one of the toughest scenes of the year to endure, for its schmaltzy spring of shallow that feels forced on audiences seeking something sweetly endearing to undercut the tension in scenes that are otherwise responsibly dramatic. As for the cliches, we’re given all of the usual suspects, like an overwhelmingly stacked legal team for the opposition, the secret witness, and the sudden emergence of unforeseen evidence that influences the direction of the case, that make up the duration of the legal battle, that draw so many of these films together, but never anything inside of the court that allows it to set itself apart from those predecessors, and with so much emphasis in the style and personality of the film’s superior first half, the secondary sequences inside of the court don’t reach the same kind of prominence, leaving this a tale a two halves and tones that doesn’t always find a comfortable consistency.

OVERALL
“The Burial” isn’t the most refreshingly original of courtroom dramas, but it is a flashy crowd-pleaser that preys on the predators who take advantage of the misfortunate. With punchy performances from Foxx and Jones, as well as a spirited direction from Betts giving the film the wings of personality that it needs to evade stuffy seriousness, with as much ensuing heart and humanity that inspires togetherness at a time it’s needed more than ever.

My Grade: 7/10 or C+