Inspired by a true story when lawyer Willie Gary helps funeral home owner Jeremiah (Jerry) O’Keefe save his family business from a coporate monster they will go on to expose an extremely complex wev of race, power and injustice.
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The true story the film is based on was documented in 1999 in a New Yorker article by the same name.
Back in 1995 Jerry had become finacially troubled and was forced to sell parts of his business to be able to meet the demands made by the Mississippi State Insurance Commission. After he makes contact with Raymond Loewen it is clear that he is not going to get much support and everyone is just out to snatch up his entire business.
Hiring Willie who is a rather flashy Florida personal injury lawer, because they feel that a white lawyer will be unable to convince the potential black jury. This creates many tensions around the case and Loewen follows and hires a black lawyer team to try the same thing.
I do tend to rather enjoy a courtroom drama and this one was no different in that sense, I find something rather impressive about the build up and everything around it to create the tension. I also think that this is more towards the US, as the courtroom always seems so dramatic! Although I guess we know that the outcome is going to be good for Jerry, or we wouldn’t have been watching a film about the story. Especially when the settlement is rejected, we knew it was then going to be a big win for more money. That doesn’t take anything away from the film though.
The best thing about the film had to be the chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones, like seriously it was the relationship that we had no idea we needed but worked so effortlessly and was quite frankly a joy to watch from start to finish.
