Ein Anwalt hilft einem Bestattungsunternehmer, sein Familienunternehmen vor einem Konzernriesen zu retten, und deckt dabei ein komplexes Geflecht aus Rasse, Macht und Ungerechtigkeit auf.Ein Anwalt hilft einem Bestattungsunternehmer, sein Familienunternehmen vor einem Konzernriesen zu retten, und deckt dabei ein komplexes Geflecht aus Rasse, Macht und Ungerechtigkeit auf.Ein Anwalt hilft einem Bestattungsunternehmer, sein Familienunternehmen vor einem Konzernriesen zu retten, und deckt dabei ein komplexes Geflecht aus Rasse, Macht und Ungerechtigkeit auf.
- Auszeichnungen
- 2 Gewinne & 4 Nominierungen insgesamt
- Reggie Douglas
- (as Dorian Crossmond Missick)
Zusammenfassung
Empfohlene Bewertungen
Ending is a bit predicable but still riveting and makes you believe that good will always win over evil.
I highly recommend this movie because you'll certainly feel really good after watching it. Not all movies need to have violence and sex at the forefront.
No spoilers here: but the very first 5 minutes reveal to me that this is a movie with a HEART, with terrific, subtle HUMOR and with a story that is out of wack but still very much TRUE to life. (Based on a true story, which is explained during the very end credits of this movie).
The good: watching Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Fox knock it out of the park is such a treat. I mean these 2 actors have proven themselves to be some of the finest American actors and they simply pull it of again. They NAIL IT. They really do!
Any bad? The first hour is the best, that's when we get to see how Tommy Lee Jones (a funeral home director in need of money) and Jamie Fox (a famous lawyer) get to know each other and make plans to sue one of the wealthiest corporations.
The second hour is a bit timid and lacking in spark and punch though, because it consists of mostly court hearings and those hearings arent as good as I hoped for. Not bad, but I have seen better.
Another slightly disappointing thing is that the supporting actors are kinda mediocre. Again they are not bad, but lacking in charisma, which does matter, because they are the main cause that this movie is lacking in true drama.
A charming, lighthearted courthouse story with lots of civil rights issues written into it. Not the greatest, but it left me with a smile on my face. I'll settle for less...
It all begins with a funeral business owner that is going to lose all his savings and he turns into the least expected lawyer to turn to. It is a story about a small business owner against the greedy corporate, but it is also a story about race differences, bridging between those and also about unexpected friendships, that are forged through this long path of the trial.
TLJ and Fox demonstrate an amazing chemistry and this movie works, a lot, because this special bond. The story is great and written well and has a lot of comic relieves in it, to break any tension or drama and those pauses are not taking over the movie, but blend perfectly into the plot and general tone of it.
The movie is almost light headed, but when a real dramatic pause is needed, it knows its way around thanks to its director - Maggie Betts on her third movie as a director. She manages to collect an impressive team of actors, which contains some veterans like Bill Camp, Pamela Reed (Always Phoebe O'Hara from the " Kindergarten Cop") and even Alan Ruck (that I'll never forget from his appearances in "Spin City").
Betts also wisely uses two bright youngers stars on a great performances as Jurnee Smollett and the young Mahershala Ali look-A-Like: Mamoudou Athie. It's just a fantastic movie that couldn't get higher, due to his leaning of a true story, but in a most dramatic and anticipated way. Good job and waiting for Betts next projects, in order to see if she fulfills the promising career that is expected from her.
Elderly Tommy Lee Jones is a funeral-home-business owning guy, not poor, but a working man. Due to faults not of his own, he gets into business with Evil Canadian Corporation, who then try to stiff him.
TLJ resorts to hiring successful TV lawyer Jamie Foxx. Now, this guy is a BLACK lawyer. He exploits this by filing his suits in the poorest, most predominantly black circuits, and plays the Victim Of The Man card to win his cases - with, apparently, massive success.
Evil Corportation puts against him equally black lawyeress Jurnee Smollett, up'n' coming Harvard lawyer ready to throw back in his face the race card.
While the film is not race-based, it does not pretend that race isn't a factor when Evil Corporation is willfully targeting the most impoverished areas of the south. There's a few tinges of Erin Brockovitch, and it's dialogue-heavy throughout, but man, you will not believe the quality of a performance that Jamie Foxx puts in for this movie. I would have never in a million years thought this comedy actor had the talent to pull out of his .. coat .. a straight courtroom drama. Don't get me wrong, Foxx plays to his strengths, but he also shows some finesse that, realistically, nobody could have predicted the man had.
NOT as great as Erin Brockovitch, but absolutely worth it.
8/10.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesJerry O'Keefe was a Marine pilot in World War II. He shot down five Japanese planes in one day on April 22, 1945, becoming an ace in one day. He shot down two more on April 28, 1945. He was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
- PatzerWillie's private jet is referred to as a 737, but it's actually a 727.
- Zitate
Hal Dockins: I mean, 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.
- Crazy CreditsSpecial appearance in the credits by one of the real people depicted in the movie.
- VerbindungenReferenced in Film Junk Podcast: Episode 917: Priscilla (2023)
- SoundtracksTrust in the Lord
Written by Andre Littlejohn and Larry J. Mccullough
Courtesy of APM Music
Top-Auswahl
Details
- Erscheinungsdatum
- Herkunftsland
- Offizieller Standort
- Sprache
- Auch bekannt als
- The Burial
- Drehorte
- Produktionsfirmen
- Weitere beteiligte Unternehmen bei IMDbPro anzeigen
Box Office
- Budget
- 32.500.000 $ (geschätzt)
- Laufzeit
- 2 Std. 6 Min.(126 min)
- Farbe
- Seitenverhältnis
- 2.35 : 1