The Judge

If you are an adult wanting to see a great film about real life family issues with some terrific court room drama you should see this film. It is well written and directed with great performances by Downey and Duvall. I think Downey gives his best performance in a film and Duvall is again outstanding.

I found this to be a better film than Gone Girl. It is more believable and more moving.

I am a baby boomer who likes science fiction but I am quite pleased to see a film without a super hero and CG images.

I hope to convince my daughters (all in their 20's) and my parents (in their 80's) to see this movie.

Robert Duvall's performance as an irascible old man dying of cancer in the title role both got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and is the highlight of the film. Duvall who is now 84 years old puts a lifetime of learning and experience into this role, a part he literally aged right into.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays Duvall's estranged son, a very successful Chicago criminal attorney who gets a call from his brother Vincent D'Onofrio that their mother has just passed on. Right in mid trial he gets a postponement and flies to the small Indiana town where he grew up to be with his brothers and dad.

While still in mourning a man is run down by a car identified as Duvall's and he's arrested. Turns out to be a man he gave a break to in his court who came back and pulled a horrible crime. He'll need a good lawyer, but Duvall won't make the obvious choice.

There's a whole lot issues separating Duvall and Downey making a gulf as wide as the Pacific Ocean. As he proudly points out Downey commands some big fees in Chicago. My favorite scene in the film is Duvall insisting that local attorney Dax Sheppard be his lawyer. Sheppard is a part time lawyer and a full time antique dealer who got his law degree at a school Valparaiso, Chile, good old Valpo as he calls it. Downey is beside himself at this guy's incompetence.

Grace Zabriskie has a short but memorable performance as the mother of the man who was killed. Years of rage and hate come out at Duvall. As Downey points out when you're a town judge like that for 35 years you will make rulings and have a lot of people you ruled against hate you. In fact as we meet Duvall there's a great example of that when he orders this redneck deadbeat to cough up child support by giving title to his brand new truck over to his esteemed wife so she can sell it. In that world that's like ordering castration. You will make enemies with decisions like that. It kind of makes you wonder about all those old Andy Hardy movies where Lewis Stone was beloved by all in Carvel.

Downey and Duvall have a special dynamic working in The Judge. Their last scene together is exponentially poignant.

A whole lot of family dirt is exposed when the rug is lifted in The Judge. For fans of both Downey and Duvall this is a must.

It's not easy to judge or to make the right choice as one. And the past always will get to you, no matter what you do and what you try to forget about it. This family drama is a perfect example of that. Basing everything on two major actors, this is more than solid (gold). The story works and you're invested from the get go. Even if Robert Downeys character might not seem the friendliest or maybe because of that. Because he seems to be able to get away with things.

But we do get to see behind that curtain/wall, that his character has made up and his own denial. There is an almost weird love triangle, which might throw some people off, but it's just to make our main character more believable, to show what he became over the years. Every decision will result in some consequences, question is who is the one taking them.... A great drama and movie, highly recommended

"The Judge" is one of those films that with decidedly lesser and less passionate talent could've been a more evident hot mess than it already is. In its current form, however, it's a rare hot mess that succeeds mostly because of the audacity and chemistry of its performers, on top of the entertaining content it provides us, despite its lengthy runtime (one-hundred and thirty-seven minutes minus credits).

The film concerns Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.), an immensely successful, arrogant Chicago lawyer, who returns to his hometown of Carlinville, Indiana for his mother's funeral, leaving behind an unsatisfied wife who wants out of their marriage and a young daughter who knows a bit too much for her age. Upon returning to Carlinville, Hank reconnects with his two siblings and realizes all the reasons him and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), have severed all ties to each other. Hank detests his father for not just his stubborn and sometimes vague natures, but his crooked sensibilities that often come off as brash and inhuman.

Hank realizes he'll have to extend his stay in Carlinville when his father is suspected of murdering a man he sent to prison some years ago. After a long, emotional night at his wife's funeral, Joseph wakes up to find his car scratched with blood in the front-grill that matches the blood of the victim he hit, who was riding on the street on a bicycle. After being granted the ability by Joseph, Hank now has to go about defending his father, as he is up against the equally-renowned prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton).

I cannot proceed further into analysis until I recognize the beauty of Downey, Jr. and Duvall's chemistry and their individual performances. Both actors convey such a natural feeling of stubbornness and gusto that, when both men are in the room together, often occupied by tense arguing or bickering, "The Judge" electrifies the audience. Downey, Jr., even as he nears fifty, occupies the sensibilities and the mindset of a cocky frat boy in the best possible way, and Duvall, in his early-eighties, finds commendable energy in his role as the judge-turned-convict. When put together and given personalities that the men can convey in their sleep (Downey Jr.'s cocky, holier-than- thou attitude and Duvall's all-knowing attitude but occasionally vague intentions), the film explodes on screen.

Then there's the man who is likely going to get little praise, due to his minimal involvement until the final act of the film, Billy Bob Thornton, doing the best Billy Bob Thornton performance possible. You know the type: confident, but not foolishly cocky, well-spoken, with a humble southern drawl, and groomed but mannered method to his madness. Right off the bat, we have three incredible talents gracing the screen at one time, which almost makes us forget how average and often cluttered the story really is.

"The Judge" suffers from the classic issue of having too many subplots. In my plot summation, I mentioned two (the divorce and the murder trial), yet that doesn't even scratch the film's surface of how many bases it attempts to hit. Aside from trying to play up the "father never loved me" storyline, "The Judge" attempts to build so much around the life of Hank that it can't keep up. We have a divorce, the rekindling of an old relationship, a possible deadbeat dad situation, a vague future, and that's not even considering the subplots and other features plaguing the other characters, like Joseph and his other two sons. There is simply too much occurring in "The Judge" to effectively appreciate everything it has to offer.

Then there's the fact that the courtroom scenes of the film, unlike in "Flight," back in 2012, which proved not to be something they were ostracized as prior to the film's release, which find themselves too lost in the affinity of theatricalities rather than realism. By this point, the whole film has taken a realistic, human focus to its story, and to see "The Judge" take on brazen obviousness in the way of courtroom shouting and disobedience finds ways to be offputting at times.

Nonetheless, "The Judge" is, above all, an audience's film, meaning that most people who go to see this film will, in turn, love it, and find themselves reflecting on life, their family, and themselves. I'd be lying if I said this film didn't hit personal chords, depicting a troubled relationship between father-and-son that I have encountered in life countless times, with attitudes and stances greatly mirroring my own reality. For this reason, among the fact that the film's performances are truly something to take in and the film's human interest never loses sight despite a heavy dependence on storyline, I'm recommending "The Judge" to people as a solid piece of adult drama with a modern, human focus; we hardly ever get those anymore by someone who's name isn't Alexander Payne.

But if you want a great story, lots of character development and first rate acting then The Judge is about as good as you'll get this year.

Robert Downey, Jr. has always shown himself to be a top quality actor. His role here as Henry Palmer is no exception. Watching him here you forget about all the high-tech comic book movies he's done. This, I'm sure, is the kind of role actors look for when they have no trouble paying the bills.

Vera Farmiga is very impressive as the love interest. She's both beautiful and talented.

But Vincent D'Onofrio was possibly the most impressive. There's always something just under the surface, whether he's playing a stressed out Marine recruit, an over worked homicide detective, or the big brother who missed his chance at Big League dreams, D'Onofrio may have given the most understated performance of the whole film.

I highly recommend this one if you like quality drama.