Downey and Duvall are the bomb.
The Judge
Grade: B+
Director: David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers)
Screenplay: Nick Schenk (Gran Torino), Bill Dubuque
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr. (The Soloist), Robert Duvall ( Jack Reacher)
Rating: R
Runtime: 141 min.
by John DeSando
“My father is a lot of unpleasant things, but murderer is not one of them.” Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.)
The Judge is an engrossing melodrama about the struggle between father and son seen through the framing device of the father’s trial.
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a big-city lawyer representing his estranged father, Judge Joseph (Robert Duvall), accused of murdering a man in a car-bicycle accident late at night.
Duvall has played a mentally-challenged character in a courtroom drama (see quote at the end of this review) and a consigliore in The Godfather, so he is experienced in the circus a local case provides and the slick challenge of city lawyers. Downey, on the other hand, combines traits of Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes in one of his most nuanced and enjoyable roles outside of the franchises that have made him famous and wealthy. His father tells him he’s the best lawyer he’s ever seen, and Downey shows it in and out of the courtroom.
A big storm, shouting and gesticulating family members, too many sub-plots involving romance, and family tragedy--all are not dull while over the top for some audience members. Downey and Duvall crackle when they argue, an unbeatable duo of seasoned film actors who tug at your heart without even demanding your sympathy.
Vera Farmiga as Hank’s former girlfriend, Samantha Powell, plays an attractive, bright local business owner who still doesn’t buy Hank’s fast talk. But she loves him, making their relationship intriguing even now over the years.
Yet, it’s in the courtroom where the real action happens without the usual outlandish legal twists. Billy Bob Thornton’s smarmy prosecutor, Dwight Dickham—an inspired name for his lethal take on the law—is a suitable foe for Hank, and as such makes for effective courtroom drama.
However, Dickham believes the law equals out matters, so you may wish to see this overly-long but intelligent and engaging drama to find out if he is right.
"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." - spoken by Atticus Finch, by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
