Unlikely duos and ‘inspired by true events’ are hardly unique sells in cinema these days – with these tropes making up a large number of box office and streaming hits – but don’t let that stop you from catching The Burial as it manages to nail both of these, earning its place as one of the best Prime Video movies.
Our unlikely duo in question is personal injury lawyer Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx) and his client, a funeral home owner Jeremiah Joseph O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones), who work together to file a lawsuit against the Loewen funeral company that is threatening O’Keefe’s family business. The movie is inspired by a real life case, which was documented in a New Yorker article of the same name by Jonathan Harr, published in 1999.
Throughout the course of the case, we watch as these two men bond over their determination to expose this web of injustice that only seems to get more complicated as time goes on. There are shocks, laughs and victories along the way, so don’t let the word ‘legal’ put you off. It manages to be thoroughly entertaining even when they’re quoting the law to you. If you’re looking for a slick, smart legal drama, The Burial is an excellent place to start.
A solid courtroom drama
When we first heard about its October release date in 2023, The Burial quickly became one of five movies and shows that we were most excited to watch on Prime Video – and it looks like we weren’t the only ones. At the time of writing, the drama has a certified fresh rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an audience score of 82%, so while the audience didn’t favour it quite as much, it’s still overwhelmingly positive.
Many have praised the movie for its performances, nuance and entertainment drama, despite it being an “old-fashioned” courtroom thriller. The Burial is a “nuanced and intelligent legal drama that neatly combines big characters and big ideas. By focusing on wider issues of race and injustice, Betts finds continuing resonance in a case nearly 30-years-old,” Empire Magazine said.
Rolling Stone was full of praise for Jamie Foxx in particular, adding: “The movie may ping between social drama and IRL [in real life] courtroom saga. Whenever Foxx struts and frets his two hours upon this stage, you realize that it may simply work best as a star vehicle.”
While the Chicago Sun-Times said: “The Burial is about a contract dispute between a white small business owner and a white billionaire. Soon, though, it becomes about much more than that, and the result is a thoroughly entertaining, old-fashioned yet timely courtroom thriller.”