There was a pre MCU time John Grisham ruled the movie world. Grisham’s books were legal dramas, usually adapted into movies built around an incredible star making performance for the lead. The 1990s return with The Burial, using the Grisham formula to perfection through a trio of starry performances from great actors. May the legal dramas continue to proceed to the movie theaters please? Sustained! Objection! Bird Law! I went too far, sorry.
No bird law in this one. We’re in Mississippi contract law territory. The suer is Jeremiah Joseph O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones), an owner of several mortuaries across the state. In need for some money, O’Keefe makes a deal with Robert Loewen (Bill Camp) and the Loewen Group, selling some sites for cash. Because O’Keefe believes Loewen has been intentionally delaying payments, he consults his personal layers Mike Allred (Alan Ruck) and Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) about what to do. Dockins, to Allred’s dismay, suggests using flashy Florida personal injury attorney Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), who can help sway the predominantly African American Jury in O’Keefe’s district.
I was getting really sad when all the health concerns for Jamie Foxx arose. I took for granted his innate ability to electrify any screen he’s on. Foxx is dynamite as real life lawyer Willie E. Gary. At first he comes off like one of those sleazy attorneys entirely self-motivated. But as we learn more about why O’Keefe’s plight matters to Willie, we see the other talents Foxx has to command a screen more quietly, but still with hella style and excitement. In the courtroom it’s the Jamie Foxx show, as Willie Gary uses biblical cadence to really sell Jeremiah O’Keefe’s plight to the jury.
But if it were just Foxx The Burial would be a one sided affair. He needs great people to play off of. Tommy Lee Jones did this before in Men in Black, and plays a more muted version of K here as Jeremiah O’Keefe. Flashy lawyer vs. deliberate good old boy from the South is comedy fish in a barrel, which the movie uses to keep the story light before the heavy emotional beats. But the key ingredient in this satisfying tale is Jurnee Smollett as Mame Downes. In an effort to “out black” Jeremiah O’Keefe, Robert Loewen used black attorneys to help with his case. Even though Smollett’s Downes is fictional, she fits well inside The Burial. Using the systemic forces provided to her to her advantage Smollett’s defense lawyer oozes confidence and power: every bit Gary’s equal. Smollett’s performance elevates Foxx’s, making him earn the big emotional moments Maggie Betts’s screenplay goes for because Smollett keeps the “bad guys” at least as smart as our protagonist. More importantly, like Willie Gary, Jurnee Smollett makes it clear that Mame Downes will be perfectly fine regardless of the verdict. Through Smollett and Foxx, the movie gives us a glimpse of powerful African American lawyers around a boring white people legal dispute, giving us a fresh, more interesting spin on the legal drama.
The Burial puts the past on its head in really fun ways. Legal dramas with African American lawyers as leads. Evil Canadian corporatists. White characters from Mississippi mostly supportive of black characters. Thank goodness we have the one constant: Mamoudou Athie in a streaming movie. A pretty impressive run for that guy!