The Judge (***)
Directed by: David Dobkin
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Robert
Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Billy Bob Thornton,
David Krumholtz, Leighton Meester, Dax Shepard
Seen: January 12th 2015
*** Out of ****
The Judge is an affecting movie about
the hatred shared between a father and son, and is sure to feature something
anyone can enjoy or appreciate. It’s almost strange to see Downey, Jr. in a “normal”
role after all his recent larger-than-life roles (Tony Stark/Iron Man in four
movies, with a fifth on the way and Sherlock Holmes in two more movies), but
the man can act, and it didn’t take long for him to become Hank Palmer, a
successful and ruthless defence attorney from Chicago who returns home to a
small Indiana town (Carlinville) for his mother’s funeral. The Judge reminded
me of Zach Braff’s Garden State (2004), one of my personal favourites, which
also featured a city big-shot heading home for his mom’s funeral, who also
clashes with his father, and who also experiences romantic complications.
Garden State, while still dealing with serious subject matter, was a far more
comedic and “indie pop” venture than the more stoic The Judge.
Hank Palmer (Downey, Jr.) is on a case
in Chicago when his brother Glen (D’Onofrio) calls with the news that their
mother has passed away. He gets a continuance and leaves his daughter and cheating
wife at home to go to Carlinville, Indiana, to join Glen and his mentally
handicapped brother Dale (Strong) for the funeral. Hank visits the courtroom
where his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Duvall) resides, unbeknownst to The
Judge. At the funeral The Judge hugs friends and family members, thanking them
for attending, but he merely shakes Hank’s hand and moves on.
As Hank prepares to leave the next day
he notices damage to his father’s car, and soon enough he decides to stay as
The Judge is taken into custody for vehicular manslaughter. The victim: a man
The Judge let off very light 20 years back only to convict him for a murder he
committed the day he was released from his light 30 day sentence. Everything
points towards The Judge’s guilt, to an attempt to fix his mistake of years
earlier, and thus Hank steps up to defend his father, whether he likes him or
not. There are complications in the case however, as The Judge decides to
obtain the legal services of another lawyer, the absolute novice C.P. Kennedy
(Shepard), and Hank barges along where he can.
Downey, Jr. and Duvall share a fiery
on-screen battle, and they really sell the gruelling father-and-son duel. I
found the two leads somewhat difficult to fully support however, as Hank is a
slimy defence lawyer who doesn’t care whether his clients are guilty or not,
and The Judge is an overly proud and obnoxious man who really does not exhibit
any endearing traits. But emotion is effectively created and maintained by the
story’s inclusion of Hank’s two brothers and his high school girlfriend.
Vincent D’Onofrio and Jeremey Strong bring out the humanity in the movie and in
the two headstrong and difficult lead characters, with Vera Farmiga providing a
romantic foil to Hank in her Sam Powell, a small town-single mom running the
local tavern.
The Judge is, apart from some overly
familiar story elements, a very effective drama that anyone can enjoy and find
something of value in. There is some sweet humour and some element of mystery
in the court case, and while the movie is not brilliant, I really enjoyed it
and can recommend it to anyone who is looking for a touching father-and-son
story.
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