When Ego Meets Justice: Jamie Foxx's Stellar Performance in 'The Burial’

First of all, I’d like to say, you can never go wrong with Jamie Foxx. Immediately after I saw him in the trailer, I didn’t even bother watching the rest of it. I downloaded the whole thing straight up, without batting an eyelid.

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And guess what? He did not let me down; it’s not like he could help it if he tried. This man brilliantly finessed his role and the movie together. There is no other actor I could think of who would have brought this story to life.

You know what? Let’s get right into the review.

About The Movie

The movie is based on real life events.

Jerry O’Keefe, who owns a chain of funeral homes, has the desire to pass the homes onto his children and grandkids, like his parents did to him. But over the years, he ran into some debt, and the debt collectors threatened to take away his homes.

He consults with his personal lawyer, Mike Alfred, on the best way forward. Mike advises him to sell off some of his homes and introduces him to an interested buyer, Raymond Loewen. Raymond is an insanely wealthy man who is on a rampage to buy as many funeral homes as possible.

Jerry is skeptical about selling to Raymond, but eventually they schedule a meeting. The meeting ends with Jerry signing a contract to sell some of his homes, while Raymond says he will get back to him after thirty days.

Four weeks go by, and they don’t hear from Raymond. Jerry is pissed and confused. He talks it over with Mike and Hal Dockins. Hal is a fresh law graduate and a friend of his son, looking for some experience.

Mike tells Jerry to wait for a while, but Hal is of the opinion that Raymond is stalling and waiting till he’s absolutely desperate, so he gives him a shitty deal. He advises Jerry to sue Raymond, and he agrees.

So together, they both seek the services of William Gary, a black hotshot criminal defense lawyer who has never lost a case. Jerry entrusts his case to William’s hands and hopes for justice and remuneration.

Storyline

I think the plot of the movie is perfect. It’s not always easy to reenact a real life event, but they pulled it off excellently. There were multiple arcs and climaxes. It took me through an emotional rollercoaster, but I was well saddled up and enjoyed the ride.

The movie was so unpredictable. Usually, when watching these kinds of movies, if a huge celebrity like Jamie Foxx was cast as one of the main protagonists, it would usually make it easier to predict.

I mean, if Jamie Foxx was a lawyer, then there was no way he wasn’t going to win his case. But as the movie progressed, he started making a lot of mistakes and letting his ego get in the way. At some point, his colleagues abandoned the case, and even his client was going to give up.

In that moment, I genuinely couldn’t predict the end of the movie. I thought, for sure, the other team was going to win. It was moments like this that made me fall in love with the movie even more. It had me glued to my screen because I desperately wanted to know how it would end.

Acting

Need I say anything? The actors delivered magnificently. Like my fellow Gen Z mates would say, it gave exactly what it was supposed to give. I mean, it’s annoying to watch a movie where the acting is amateur at best.

I can’t say the same for this one, though. This movie is a masterpiece. Tommy Lee Jones, who played Jerry, pulled off his role elegantly. You could feel his frustration and agony at his current dilemma. He indeed portrayed the perfect image of a man about to lose his business.

Plus his ever supportive wife by his side, guiding him the best she could.

William, played by Jamie, was a character that easily tugged at my heartstrings. He delivered his lines with so much emotion; I felt every single word that rolled off his tongue.

All the actors did their jobs perfectly, with the right amount of pizzazz.

Final Thoughts

One thing that distinguished this movie from the rest was the way each character grew on me. At first, I didn’t care for William because he was portrayed as a shiny, hotshot billionaire lawyer who has a huge mansion for a house and a private jet.

I even doubted his competence, and I think it was because he wasn’t relatable. But later down the line, his character became humanized. We could see he was a family man who relied on the support of his wife to get through his own hurdles.

And then Jerry. Well, I liked Jerry right off the bat, but I did question some of his choices along the line.

The same applied to the rest of them. Not a lot of movies can get you to feel that way, and for that, I appreciate it.

Taking everything into account, I would give this movie a 10/10 rating.