The Burial stars Tommy Lee Jones as the owner of a small chain of funeral homes. When he tries to sell some of them to a behemoth funeral corporation, they try to screw him and he sues. He hires showy personal injury lawyer Jamie Foxx to represent him in this contract dispute.

The film’s courtroom antics are fiery and thrilling and about the least convincing lawyering I’ve ever seen in a movie. Witness “questioning” (aka shouting) goes on so long, I wondered if the judge had fallen asleep… or opposing counsel.

But since when do courtroom dramas get it right? I should let it slide… I’m not master of the law or courtrooms. It’s just a movie…. based on real events so I’d love to see the transcripts and get the opinion of a real lawyer.

And I’ll just go ahead and blow your mind with a wild hot take. This movie is a miscarriage of justice… on behalf of the billion dollar corporation. Were they guilty of being a bunch of greedy capitalist jerks? Sure… but show me the law… We see vanishingly little actual arguments or questioning about the contract and a whole lot of jury manipulation.

But, hey, it’s a populist rabble rousing David vs. Goliath story. I’m supposed to be pre-programmed to side with the little guy. And the courtroom antics were certainly enjoyable.

Also… teaming Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones is fine but I couldn’t help but think about (damaged goods) Will Smith in Jamie Fox’s role. Jamie Foxx is great but imagine what a cool reunion between Men in Black it could have been.

I enjoyed this movie even as I was skeptical of it. It’s a well acted, dramatic piece of filmmaking with a curious legal core. It panders a little too much to be great, but it still hits hard where it counts.

Score: 84