The Burial

2023 Amazon MGM Studios

Rated: R

Length: 2 hr 7min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ True Story

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett, Mamoudou Athie, and Bill Camp, and Alan Ruck.

“Jerry’s a… a dream client. He’s got a great narrative. He’s a war hero. A decorated war hero. He served in World War II. He was, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross… for service for his country.”

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Jeremiah O’Keefe, an honest hard working Businessman and Family Man from Mississippi. He runs a chain of Funeral Businesses and a Funeral Insurance Company. Jeremiah found himself in trouble with the Mississippi State Insurance Commission after one of his Business Associates got him involved in a Ponzi scheme and he lost a lot of money. His Contract Lawyer, Mike Allred (Alan Ruck) suggests they set up a meeting with The Loewen Group from Canada who have been buying up privately owned Funeral Businesses that find themselves in financial trouble. Jeremiah agrees and they meet with the head of The Loewen Group, Raymond Loewen (Bill Camp).

Jeremiah and Raymond reach an agreement for The Loewen Group to buy three of Jeremiah’s Funeral Businesses, but Jeremiah stipulates that they must promise not to sell them Funeral Insurance. Jeremiah wants to keep that aspect of their business for himself. They shake hands on it but months later the Loewen group is stalling on any payments and has sold their own Insurance to those businesses, reneging on the handshake deal. Infuriated, Jeremiah takes notice of a flashy personal Injury Lawyer from Florida named Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx). Jeremiah and his young Lawyer Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) convince Willie to take the case and file a lawsuit against The Loewen Group. The showdown is on as Jeremiah O’Keefe and his lawyers and the flamboyant Willie E. Gary and his team of lawyers take on the very successful and powerful Loewen Group.

I have to point out the racial overtones in the story because they play a part in the story and the trial. Jeremiah O’Keefe and his Contract Lawyer Mike Allred are successful old school white folks from Mississippi, who grew up in a very segregated and racist environment. White is white, and black is black. Although Jeremiah seems less prejudiced than Mike Allred who is definitely old school Racist, with family ties to the K.K.K. Jeremiah’s Lawyer is a young well educated Black Lawyer, and Willie E. Gary and his team of Lawyers are all black. Raymond Loewen and his Corporate team of Lawyers are white Canadian. The Contract Lawyer that the Loewen Group hire to head the legal team for this case is a Black Female Trial Lawyer (Jurnee Smollett) with tons of experience winning cases.

The Lawsuit was filed and the trial was held in Hinds County, Mississippi, a predominantly African American Community. The filmmakers wanted to highlight the dynamic of a white plaintiff facing a predominantly Black jury, leading Jeremiah O’ Keefe to hire a prominent Black lawyer, Willie Gary, to navigate this situation and appeal to the jury composition. Jeremiah was confidant that his contract Lawyer and old friend Mike Allred was too white, southern and racist to win the case given the environment in which it was held. The Trial in itself is a study in racism in the deep south.

I love this movie, I have seen it several times. I am a Tommy Lee Jones fan from way back and I think this is one of his best. I have gained new found respect for Jamie Foxx recently after watching his special on Netflix, where he addresses the health and life scare that he had. I liked him in this as the flamboyant Willie E. Gary. And I love the True Story movies, and I love the underdog stories and this one is both. I think it is a really good movie and I would definitely recommend it. Amazon bills it as a Comedy Drama and it does have it’s comedic moments, but I would say it is more of a courtroom little guy against the big guy drama than a comedy.

Highly Recommended!

Back In Action

2025 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 54min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Comedy ~ Family ~ Spy

Directed by: Seth Gordon

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, Kyle Chandler, and Glenn Close.

“What if Mr. and Mrs. Smith had kids?”

Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz star as Matt and Emily, Secret Agents for the CIA. Matt and Emily have done what spies aren’t supposed to do, fall in love with each other. Right before their assignment, Emily realizes she is pregnant. Their mission doesn’t go as planned and they end up on a plane fighting off the crew who turn out to be covert spies themselves. Right before the plane goes down, they share a parachute and escape, landing safely. They both agree that, since Emily is pregnant, this is the perfect time to fake their deaths. Disappear off the grid, start from scratch and build a family.

Fast forward fifteen years and they are the typical suburban family. Matt and Emily are raising their fourteen year old daughter Alice and their twelve year old son Leo. Constantly battling too much screen time on their children’s devices, juggling work and after school activities. They even drive a mini-van to soccer practices and games that Matt coaches. As they try to control Alice’s covert underage nightlife activities, their cover is blown and they are forced to take the kids into hiding with them. They head to England where Emily’s Mom Ginny (Glenn Close), a former Secret Agent for the MI6, lives on a sprawling countryside estate outside of London.

There are plenty of story twists and turns as they try to vanish again, and protect their kids. It is a familiar storyline but then aren’t all the spy movies. The agents go on an assignment to retrieve the thing the bad guy has that will disrupt the working order of our world. That’s always the mission, but this time it involves kids, and Matt and Emily love their kids. The kids are awesome on their own, they have been raised well and being a spy runs in their blood. They just don’t know it yet. I really liked McKenna Roberts as Alice, and Rylan Jackson as Leo. There is plenty of action and a few laughs as Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz hold their own on the fight floor and the acting stage.

It has been over a decade since Cameron Diaz made a movie. She had decided that she needed to focus on her personal life, raise a family, and get off the Hollywood grid. Jamie Foxx approached her with this film and she said, “If I’m going to do a movie, I’m going to do it with Jamie. No questions asked.” It was really good to see her “Back In Action”, I think she did an awesome job, kicking butt and taking names, the Cameron Diaz we all know and love. You could feel the chemistry and the love between Jamie and the kids. She can still hold her own acting and fighting. Job well done and welcome back Cameron Diaz.

I had watched Jamie Foxx’s Netflix special on Netflix What had happened was….where he talks about his medical ordeal for the first time. Very touching story, if you get the chance you should watch it. In a nutshell Jamie came down with a mysterious illness, basically his brain started hemorrhaging for no apparent reason. He almost died, was in a coma, came to but couldn’t move his body. He then spent agonizing months in rehab and physical therapy learning how to walk again. Seeing him “Back in Action”…..you want to jump up and scream YEAH! GO JAMIE!!!! Job Well Done on all accounts, and welcome back Jamie Foxx. Ya still got it!

I love the soundtrack to the fight scenes, perfect! I loved the story, I loved the action, I loved seeing Jamie and Cameron together raising kids, I could feel the love! They did everything to protect their kids and it shone through in the movie. I didn’t pay much attention to what the bad guy was up to or the device he wanted, a mere subplot behind the parents fighting for their family and their kids.

Yes, yes and yes. I can’t wait to watch it again, and I just know there’s a sequel coming…BRING IT ON!

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs up!

Day Shift

2022 Netflix

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 53min

Action ~ Comedy ~ Horror ~ Thriller

Directed by: J. J. Perry

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, and Scott Adkins.

“That’s what I love about L.A……all the damn vampires.”

Jamie Foxx stars as Bud Jablonski, a former paratrooper now earning a living cleaning pools in Los Angeles. He is divorced and has a young daughter who lives with his ex-wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good). Bud is struggling to make ends meet and support his ex and his daughter. Jocelyn has just informed him that unless he comes up with the ten thousand dollars she needs in the next week, she is selling the house and moving to Florida with his daughter. Bud, not happy with the news, tells her that he will do whatever he needs to do in the next week to make that happen.

Bud is also a Vampire Hunter, using the pool cleaning job as a cover for his real source of income, hunting and killing vampires. He extracts the fangs from his victims and exchanges them for cold hard cash. Unfortunately, since he’s been kicked out of The Vampire Hunters Union, he has to rely on a black market pawn shop owner to sell the fangs to. There is a lot less money to be had compared to what he used to get being in the union and getting union prices. Union wages for the fangs are the only way he can come up with the ten thousand in a week he needs to keep his ex from taking away his daughter.

He reaches out to his mentor Big John Elliot (Snoop Dogg), his former colleague in the military and fellow Vampire Hunter, to convince him to help get him back in the Vampire Hunters Union. Big John agrees to put in a good word for him under the condition he swears he will play by the rules and not jeopardize being in the Union. Bud agrees and Big John meets him in front of The Chinese Laundry that is a front for the union. Reluctantly, the union boss allows Bud back on a trial basis. But he must be accompanied by Union Steward Seth (Dave Franco), who will accompany him at all times to make sure he doesn’t break protocol.

Bud and Seth set out to hunt not realizing that Bud has killed the daughter of the very influential vampire Aubrey San Fernando (Karla Souza) and she is hunting him down. As Bud is stalking vampires, Aubrey is stalking Bud, his family and anyone associated with Bud. The ensuing hunts are a thrilling journey through Los Angeles and the vampire underworld, where we learn many things about the modern vampire. Such as the new suncream that allows them to exist in the daylight. And that there is a hierarchy in the vampire world with different castes and classes of vampires.

It is a funny, horrifying, action packed thriller with a different take on the classic Vampire horror movie. Jamie Foxx does a great job as Bud. Snoop Dogg is as big a legend on screen as Big John as he is off screen as Snoop Dogg. Gotta love him. Dave Franco is great as the nerdy office Union guy forced into the killing field with Bud. I thought he reminded me of someone and it turns out he is James Franco’s brother. I am not familiar with Dave’s work but I liked him in this. Karla Souza is wickedly good as the very powerful vampire with a grudge.

There is talk of a sequel with the title Night Shift. Jamie Foxx is interested in reprising his role as Bud and the director is reportedly waiting on the writer to be finished with another project so they can begin the process of writing the script. I’m up for that, let’s go!

That’s a yes for me Dogg (Pun Intended)!

Two Thumbs Up!