THE BURIAL Inspiration Focuses on Faith: ‘God Can Do Everything’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Willie E. Gary, the lawyer and inspiration behind the Jamie Foxx-led THE BURIAL, credits his faith in God for his many successes in the courtroom and the victory portrayed in the new movie.
That victory was turned into a major motion picture by Amazon Prime titled, THE BURIAL.
“I hope this movie gives America a chance to see how significant God can be in your life,” Gary said of the movie. “You can make a difference. You can turn things around. I had to pray a lot of days because we were losing the case. But you know, man can do something, but God can do everything, at all times. That’s just the way I looked at it. If it’s a success, it’s because we prayed.”
A portion of Movieguide’s® review reads:
“THE BURIAL is a rousing, uplifting legal drama on Amazon Prime set in the Mid 1990s in Mississippi. Jamie Foxx stars as Willie Gary, a dynamic black preacher and lawyer. After watching Willie perform in court, Jerry O’Keefe, the owner of an eight-location funeral home empire, hires him for a massive lawsuit against a large, corrupt Canadian funeral home chain corporation that cheats poor people and tried to put the squeeze on Jerry’s cash-strapped company. Willie must deal with conflicts with Jerry’s longtime lawyer and defeat the Canadian company’s ruthless black female lawyer.
THE BURIAL is based on a real-life case and holds viewers in fascination over a unique type of court battle. It has pizzazz when Willie works his magic, yet also has many touching quieter moments where the major characters reveal the rough histories that drive them. THE BURIAL is easily one of the year’s best produced, best acted, best written movies. Both Willie and Jerry are Christians who love their respective families and have strong marriages. However, THE BURIAL has excessive, gratuitous, strong foul language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.”
For Gary, faith has always been his foundation.
“I grew up in a church, my brother was my pastor,” he told The Christian Post. “I just believe in my faith. It’s nothing fancy or anything; it’s just believing that you didn’t get to where you are by yourself. Somebody prayed for you. My grandmother used to say, ‘You didn’t get there because you’re so powerful.’”
He encourages up-and-coming lawyers to root their desire for justice in scripture. He spoke of Matthew 25:40, which reads, “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
“Just remember, when you’re down — and you’re going to be down — you’re never out,” Gary expressed. “Dream big dreams.”
The lawyer told UrbanFaith how growing up, he often went to school without lunch, even though his parents worked hard.
“It was tough,” he said. Despite the hardships of his childhood, Gary would go on to fight and win cases against major corporations like Disney and Anheuser-Busch.
“I’d say to young people, you don’t have the right to not be the best that you can be,” he added. “You don’t have the right to do any less than your best. Because at the end of the day, you will be judged, not so much on what you’ve done for yourself, but what have you done for the least of these?”
“I don’t know about you, but I want my headstone to say that I tried to help somebody, I tried to make a difference,” he added. “I challenged my friends and colleagues to do the same. Make a difference. Do something to help somebody that’s less fortunate than you are. Give it a try. It comes back to you.”
THE BURIAL earned a -2 content rating from Movieguide® due to excessive foul language. It is available to stream on Amazon Prime.