Courtroom dramas are one of my favorite genres of film. They just have a thing that gets me in the feels more often than not. Courtroom comedies are a bit far and in between. Liar Liar, My Cousin Vonnie, and Legally Blond are three that come to mind that were very funny. The latest in that lane is The Burial, starring two Academy Awards winners Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones.

Jerry O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones) is the owner of a number of funeral homes and an insurance company in Southern Mississippi.  He has a big family and intends to leave the business to his family when he’s gone. He gets into a little bit of financial difficulties and he decides to sell a portion of the business. He gets taken advantage of by a greedy businessman from Canada and doesn’t take it lying down. On the advice of his young counsel, Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie), he decides to hire a flashy lawyer from Florida Willie Gary (Jamie Foxx).

There have been films in the past that have had some odd pairing, more commonly known as odd couples. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte, Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, and Viggo Mortanson and Mahershala Ali come to mind in this regard. This movie has another odd couple feel to it that had me laughing at how weird this pairing was. Foxx decides to be the funny man of these two. Jones is the straight man but these two are a great pair by anybody’s standards.

Jamie Foxx plays this character like he’s channeling Johnny Cochran who is his character’s inspiration. His whole style is modeled after the flashy lawyer known for his role in the OJ Simpson trial and the famous quote “If they don’t fit you must acquit” That was everywhere back in the 90s and Foxx had me in stitches as this character. He was like a performer while he was giving his opening and closing statements in court and the jurors were his audience while he was performing. It’s so surprising how funny this film is, and it’s mainly because of his performance as this flashy lawyer. 

One of the things I love about courtroom films whether it be dramas or comedies is how a lot of the time the lawsuits come down to the little guy vs the big guys or rather the bully vs the bullied. That is what this movie is truly about. Seeing as how I’m one of the little guys it’s hard for me not to root for that side of things. I hate bullies and I love when they get their comeuppance. Which always makes for a better movie in the end. This is better than I expected because of the story by Doug Wright, Maggie Betts, and others.

Tommy Lee Jones is an actor who was great in the 80s and 90s in Westerns or police dramas but lately, he has been much more selective in his choices of roles he’s picked. Small roles in Captain America: The First Avenger, No Country For Old Men, and Lincoln are about what he’s been doing for the last fifteen years or so. This role in this movie is on par with those. He does seem like he wouldn’t be right for this part but his chemistry with Foxx is infectious and if you look closely he seems to be having fun at times. This was a different Jones than I’ve seen lately but I liked what I saw. 

The Burial has some story elements that aren’t very fun to watch but most of the film was very fun to watch and that’s because of the odd couple chemistry from Foxx and Jones. These guys made this movie worth watching for two hours. The comedic aspects of Foxx’s character were so enjoyable. He went all in on this character who was based on a real man. As we know filmmakers take creative license with story elements but this was just good whether it’s a real-life story or not. The courtroom scenes were a bit over the top but very fun and worth watching throughout the film.  This movie was a pleasant surprise.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen