Downey and Duvall
– Court is Now in Session
By Chris Sabga
 |
Release Date: October 10, 2014 – U.S.
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Running Time:
141 minutes
Director:
David Dobkin
Writers:
Nick Schenk, Bill Dubuque,
David Dobkin
Cast: Robert
Downey Jr., Robert Duvall,
Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton,
Vincent
D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong,
Dax Shepard, Leighton Meester,
Ken Howard, Emma Tremblay,
Balthazar Getty, David Krumholtz,
Grace Zabriskie,
Denis O'Hare,
Sarah Lancaster
|
Watching Robert Downey
Jr. and Robert Duvall – two absolute masters of the acting craft –
go back and forth would be worth the price of admission alone, but
"The Judge" is so much more than that. It's a genuinely
great movie. At two hours and twenty-one minutes, it's a long
movie too. It earns its length though. Despite its extended running
time, it's tightly
scripted. Every conversation, every line, means something and leads
somewhere. That might be the most impressive feat of all.
Hank
Palmer (Downey Jr.) is a successful lawyer. He's also an unpleasant
man – a trait he openly admits to and almost seems to take pride
in. He hasn't seen his family in years, but when his mother dies,
he's finally forced to go back home. His very young daughter (Emma
Tremblay) wonders if his father – her grandfather – is dead too.
"Just dead to me," he explains. Who speaks that way to a
little girl?
When we finally get to
meet the judge, Joseph Palmer (Duvall), we can clearly see that the
apple didn't fall far from the tree. The elder Palmer isn't exactly
"unpleasant" like his son, but he is stubborn and has a
definite sense of right and wrong. There's no arguing with this man
when it comes to the law and the very best way to apply it. So, of
course, he ends up being accused of murder.
A local man, Mark
Blackwell (Mark Kiely), is found rotting on the road. Judge Palmer's
car has Blackwell's blood on it. The judge's possible motive:
Blackwell came through his courtroom before, and it didn't end well.
The judge always been
self-righteous about the law, but would he take it into his own hands
to get justice at any cost? The opposing counsel, Dwight Dickham
(Billy Bob Thornton), is ready to argue just that.
The elder Palmer
initially hires a well-meaning but inexperienced local lawyer (Dax
Shepard) instead of his own flesh and blood. But I don't think it's a
spoiler to mention that the son will, of course, eventually have to
step in and defend his estranged father in court – because that is,
after all, the basic premise of "The Judge."
The scenes between
Downey and Shepard are some of the best and funniest in the film.
Instead of the adversarial relationship you would expect from their
characters, there's almost a sweetness to their scenes as the more
experienced Downey gives Shepard tips on how to handle stress before
a big case.
The cast, as you can
see, is tremendous – and I haven't even gotten to some of the main
players yet. There are two more members of the Palmer family, Glen
and Dale (played by Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeremy Strong,
respectively), who are Hank's brothers and the judge's sons. Glen is
old, disheveled, and rough around the edges, but he's generally a
good guy. When we first see Dale, it's at a funeral home – and he's
holding a camera, which seems incredibly inappropriate. I was under
the impression that he was a rude reporter who had pushed his way in
– until Hank gives him a big hug. As it turns out, Dale has a
mental impairment of some sort – or possibly a form of autism –
but it's never really specified.
In any other movie, a
character with a "disability" would be treated like the
second coming of Baby Jesus – someone who can say and do no wrong –
but that's thankfully not the case here. To this film's credit,
Dale's family reacts realistically to him. For example, during one
tense moment, Glen dismissively comments on Dale's obsession with
video cameras by telling him to "film the vending machine."
Hank – Downey's
character – also runs into an old friend, Samantha (Vera Farmiga),
whose prominent tattoo seems to hint at a wilder past. At first, I
found it almost jarring that a prim, proper, uptight lawyer like
Hank would ever associate with the tattooed girl from the diner. But
that's what makes "The Judge's" script so smart – even
the smallest details, such as a tattoo, tell a larger story.
The acting is amazing
all around, but this is primarily a showcase for Robert Downey Jr.
and Robert Duvall. Both of them wholeheartedly deserve Oscar
nominations – and it wouldn't surprise me if Duvall, at least, ends
up with one. Their best scene together – in a bathroom – is
unimaginably tragic, but it also manages to be hysterically funny at
the same time. Life is often like that. In lesser hands, a moment of
that magnitude would be almost impossible to pull off. Old pros like
Downey and Duvall make it look easy.
The title of "The
Judge" refers literally to Duvall's Judge Joseph Palmer, but it
also signifies every other character in some way – because they're
all judging and being judged for something.
My judgment: This is
one of the best films of the year.
If you go into the
theater expecting a fast-paced and thrilling episode of "Law &
Order" on steroids, you won't get that. The courtroom scenes are
exciting and nerve-wracking, certainly, but "The Judge" is
about more than just a case. It's about a father and son, a family, a
town, a past, what it means to come from something, and why it's
important to remember and hold on to what matters most.
