Director: Margaret Betts
Two very different men from very different worlds team up to fight a corporate buyout, and their unlikely partnership drives a courtroom story with real heart and real teeth.
What is The Burial about?
Drawing on true events, the film centers on Jeremiah O'Keefe, a small-town funeral home owner in Mississippi who watches a handshake agreement to sell part of his business collapse when the buyer refuses to close the deal in good faith. Facing the loss of everything he has built, O'Keefe hires Willie E. Gary, a flamboyant and formidable trial attorney with a reputation for winning against long odds. As the case moves toward trial, the two men discover just how much is at stake beyond the money: the buyer's parent company has a pattern of squeezing out family-run businesses, and the courtroom becomes a stage for exposing that pattern in front of a jury. What starts as a straightforward contract dispute widens into a fight over fairness, dignity, and who gets protected under the law.
Cast & crew
Tommy Lee Jones brings a weary, dignified stubbornness to O'Keefe, a man who would rather fight than fold, while Jamie Foxx delivers one of his most energetic performances as Gary, all showmanship in the courtroom and surprising tenderness outside it. Jurnee Smollett plays a sharp young associate whose research becomes central to the case, and Alan Ruck and Bill Camp add texture as figures on the opposing side of the negotiating table.
Context & significance
Director Margaret Betts adapts a real legal battle from the 1990s, using the specifics of a Mississippi courtroom to explore much larger questions about race, class, and corporate power in America. The film balances its serious subject matter with genuine comic chemistry between its two leads, letting the humor of their culture clash coexist with the gravity of what they are actually fighting for.
Where & how to watch
The film is available on K-Time with Farsi dubbing and Persian subtitles, presented through an interface built specifically for Persian-speaking viewers. Watching requires only a free K-Time account, and the page itself can be read without signing in first.