THE JUDGE (2014)

Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: David Dobkin
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Dax Shepard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Leighton Meester, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Lancaster, Melissa Leo, Ken Howard, Emma Tremblay, Balthazar Getty, David Krumholtz, Grace Zabriskie
RunTime: 2 hrs 21 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language)
Released By: GV
Official Website: http://www.thejudgemovie.com

Opening Day: 16 October 2014

Synopsis: In "The Judge," Downey stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.

Movie Review:

Robert Downey Jr. plays Hank Palmer, a criminal lawyer based in Chicago. He seemingly has everything going for him; a bucket-load of swagger, sharp clothes and good looks. In the middle of court proceedings, he is informed of his mother’s death. We get a glimpse into Hank’s dysfunctional family life as he heads home to Indiana for his mother’s funeral. Hank and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), have a difficult relationship to watch on screen. He doesn’t refer to him as Dad/father, but as “Judge” instead. A pretty accurate description of Robert Duvall’s character - he is   hypercritical, incredibly judgmental, and self-righteous. Hank is the embodiment of everything his father despises – shrewd, arrogant and morally ambiguous. Joseph Palmer lands himself in trouble when he’s arrested for running over a parolee with his car. Hank decides to stay and represents his father in court.  The rest of the film deals with how Hank and his father navigate their differences and regrets amidst the mild courtroom drama and melodramatic family squabbles.

The story had much promise to be a fast-paced courtroom thriller or a heart-warming family film. The film however struggles to find its place, stifled by mind-numbingly dull dialogue and overly used plot. The writers decided to throw in every possible cliché you could find to make the film a giant cheese-fest. The family dynamics developed are cripplingly obvious - An ex-alcoholic father now suffering from stage 4 cancer, loving and understanding mother (who we never get to see), older brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) living in the aftermath of an injury that cost him a baseball career in the big leagues, middle child Hank, and mentally challenged younger brother Dale Palmer (Jeremy Strong).  It seems like everything that could possibly go wrong happens to the Palmers, and this is dragged on for a good, long 2.5 hours (Sigh). Father and son come head to head and hash out their personal differences in court (yes this is the unsatisfying climax we waited for), and the tension stays stagnant till the very end of the film.

David Dobkin’s treatment of the film has led to its downfall. He is not subtle in his approach, leaving little to the imagination. Billy Bob Thornton plays Dwight Dickham, the opposing attorney in the case against Joseph. We already can predict the backstory of this character, but the film makers choose to tell us anyway; Dickham chooses to pursue the case largely because he wants to settle the score with Hank (big shocker there!). There is a shouting match between Hank and Joseph Palmer before the final proceedings. To add to the dramatic effect, the director decides this should take place at home in the midst of a hurricane storm. In the film, Hank often reflects to his childhood days when he often went fishing with his father. Minor spoiler alert – the storyline ends with both father and son fishing together and sharing compliments in a picturesque river. The banality of the film is partially insulting.

The story could have worked with just Duvall and RDJ, two very strong leads that could have brought this film to reach its potential. The film suffers from over-casting and clumsy direction. In addition, the film’s treatment of female characters is tragic –  Vera Farmiga and Leighton Meester’s characters are pointless and seemed like last minute additions to the otherwise male-dominated film. For a story with so much potential, there is really nothing much going for it. On the bright side, we discover Emma Tremblay (previous credits include Elysium, 2013 and The Giver, 2014), who plays Lauren Palmer, Hank’s enchanting daughter. She becomes the centerpiece of the relationship between Hank and Joseph, but before that could develop any further, she’s shipped off to Chicago and is not seen again. There’s just too many characters, too many narratives, and they all manage to stagnate leaving the audience uninterested in the conclusion.

Duvall’s talent is undeniable, but he is overshadowed by endless melodrama and unnecessary interactions with peripheral characters. There are some moments between Duvall and RDJ that are well developed. For example, Hank finds his father collapsed in the bathroom after a round of chemotherapy. Both Duvall and RDJ up their game and commit to this memorable scene. RDJ’s subtle nuances in the scene reflected the character’s inner struggle in accepting his father for the man he is. Duvall in this scene becomes a character that you can sympathize with, and yet manages to keep it light-hearted with his comical interaction with RDJ.

One of the redeeming qualities of The Judge is RDJ’s charm, but even that wears thin towards the end of the film. No amount of RDJ swagger could save the limp humor and predictable screenplay. This film was Robert Downey Jr.’s chance to prove his acting prowess beyond the carefully branded blockbuster movie characters (i.e. Iron Man and Sherlock) that he’s grown comfortable with. However, RDJ struggles to find the sincerity to match the tone of the film. In most of the scenes, the character of Hank feels like the alter ego of Tony Stark, with the same mannerisms and demeanor of the latter. Perhaps this is the flavor that RDJ brings to every one of his films. While entertaining to watch (this writer is a huge fan of RDJ), it proves to be the wrong fit for The Judge.

The Judge has a plot full of promise. The treatment of the plot however is a colossal failure as it leaves little to the imagination and very little praise to say about the film. Essentially, The Judge is too long, too predictable, and too simple. 

Movie Rating:

(Watch The Judge if you are really bored, or if you are a huge fan of RDJ)

Review by  Aishwarya Kumar