The Burial ending explained: did Willie Gary and Jerry O'Keefe win the case?
Prime Video gave subscribers a feel-good hit with the movie The Burial. Starring Jamie Foxx (They Cloned Tyrone) and Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), The Burial follows the heroic story of how one man and his attorney took on a giant corporation and it's greed.
We’re about to get into the meat and potatoes of the movie, so consider this a spoiler alert.
It all started when Jerry O'Keefe (Jones) found himself in some financial trouble with his funeral home business. At the suggestion of his attorney Mike Allred (Alan Ruck), he entertained the idea of selling three of his eight funeral homes to the Canadian corporation The Loewen Group. CEO of the company, Raymond Loewen (Bill Camp), met with O'Keefe and Allred in Canada and seemingly agreed on a deal. However, months later, Loewen never went through with buying the funeral homes.
It took O’Keefe's younger attorney Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) to point out the probability that Loewen was purposefully stalling until O'Keefe's financial hardships worsened, hoping the funeral home owner would have no choice but to sell his properties for a fraction of the cost. With that understanding, O'Keefe decided to sue Loewen for breach of contract and brought on flashy trial attorney Willie Gary (Foxx) to help with the case.
Fast forward to a court battle that was full of shocking revelations. While Gary highlighted the unsavory and predatory business practices of the Loewen Group, the opposing counsel, Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett) argued that a contract between O'Keefe and the Lowen Group never existed as the latter never signed paperwork.
When the court case and movie came to a conclusion, here's what happened.
Did Jerry O’Keefe win in his case against The Loewen Group?
In the end, the jury decided that Loewen, on behalf of The Loewen Group, violated his contractual agreement to purchase three funeral homes from O'Keefe. Gary initially wanted the corporation to pay his client $125 million. The jury not only awarded O'Keefe compensatory damages but also decided he was owed punitive damages, totaling $500 million. This was a huge shock to both Gary and O'Keefe in the movie.
However, The Loewen Group appealed this decision. Instead of letting the court decide the outcome on appeal, the company settled with O'Keefe, paying him $175 million.
What happened to Wille Gary?
The Loewen lawsuit was certainly not the last high-profile case that Gary took on in his career. Right before the end credits roll, it's revealed that Gary went up against big companies like Walt Disney and Anheuser-Busch.
Doing some additional research, according to The New York Post, Gary brought a lawsuit against Disney on behalf of Nicholas Stracick, Edward Russell and their company, All Pro Sports Camps Inc. Stracick. Russell alleged Disney stole their idea for a "sports-themed entertainment complex." When the dust from the case settled, Disney was ordered to pay the plaintiffs $240 million.
As far as Anheuser-Busch, Gary represented the family of "home run king" Roger Maris in a defamation lawsuit. According to ESPN, the case was settled for $120 million.
What happened to Jerry O'Keefe?
After the case was over, O'Keefe made sure his family business, Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Homes continued to remain operational. The Burial also mentions that he and his wife Annette (Pamela Reed) started a charitable organization.
We found out the organization was created in 1996 and named the O'Keefe Foundation. In the movie, it was noted that the nonprofit was created to benefit the "socially disadvantaged," with "more than 40% of grants sent to Black American community groups, churches and schools."
On a more personal note, when O'Keefe's wife Annette passed, he got married to Martha Peterson in 1999, and stayed with her until his death on August 23, 2016.
The Burial is available to stream on Prime Video.
