The Burial (2023)

At the ripe old age of seventy seven, Tommy Lee Jones continues to sink his teeth into admittedly less frequent appearances on our screen. Amongst his latter career roles he still captures and holds your attention. He was perfectly cast in Paul Greengrass' Jason Bourne (2016) as a a shady CIA operative; very much in the vein of Brian Cox before him in 2004's monumental The Bourne Supremacy, and solidified what could have been a throwaway role in James Grey's rather good Ad Astra (2019). Here, he's in slightly friendlier territory as funeral home owner Jeremiah O'Keefe, who attempts to sue a large funeral group company, the Loewen Group, with the help of Jamie Foxx's Willie E. Gary, a slightly unconventional personal injury lawyer. As far as courtroom dramas go, everything is present and correct here, and because the film is loosely based on true events, you can pretty much telegraph every twist and turn before it comes. But to Amazon Prime's credit (who bought and released the film) the casting of Jones and Foxx in the main two roles predictably result in two actors having the time of their lives; Foxx in particular has a blast with Gary, sinking his teeth into every scene stealing speech or rant. The Burial is a story we've seen many times before, and as a result of it being vaguely based on true events it does allow for certain artistic license, and this is both a strength and a weakness. Certain truths are stretched or invented, but with the crux of the story based in truth, at times The Burial has to reel back for fear of landing in the territory of something like Runaway Jury (2003), an utter nonsense courtroom drama that is still buckets of fun. Second time director Maggie Betts (five years after her debut, Novitiate) initiates a blend of comedy and drama that although in the end is somewhat of a footnote in the genre, nevertheless expresses her competence at putting together a nuts and bolts genre film, drawing a couple of thoroughly enjoyable performances from two actors who clearly relish the material. 6.9/10