The Judge *** (2014, Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Billy Bob Thornton ) – Movie Review

Robert Downey Jr stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home for the funeral of his mother. He is reunited with his two brothers (Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong) and his father, Joseph (Robert Duvall), the town’s judge.

On  the very day of the funeral, the old man is arrested for the murder of a local scumbag he was too lenient on in court because the man reminded him of Hank, with whom he is having grave difficulties connecting.

The film is way too slow and over-long though, and the John Grisham-style legal thriller it promises doesn’t really materialise. As Hank and the audience struggle with the terminal illnesses of both parents, it turns out that The Judge is a depressing all-American family and relationship angst drama, all about loss and pain, and tentative attempts at reconnecting. As such, it can be quite sharp and realistic.

Frustratingly, Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque‘s screenplay is in some ways quite smart and in others quite corny and manipulative. David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) needs a more ruthless streak as director, and an editor who will zip up his work. You could take half an hour out of its 141 minutes running time and not miss it at all, especially at the start and end of the movie.

But it is helped out a lot by two great performances from Downey and Duvall, and two good ones from Vera Farmiga as Hank’s lover from 20 years ago and Billy Bob Thornton as the prosecution lawyer. Downey and Duvall have lots and lots of talking to do, some of it chewing on smart dialogue, and they make the very most of it. By contrast, Farmiga and Thornton haven’t really enough dialogue, and they deserve more, but again they make the most of it.

There should be Oscar and other nominations, at least for Duvall as Best Supporting Actor.

Well, that was the hope and the prediction. In the event, Duvall was indeed Oscar nominated as Best Supporting Actor, becoming the oldest nominee at 84 years and 10 days. He was also Golden Globe nominated, but did not win either award.

He won the Best Actor Academy Award for Tender Mercies (1983). He has six other Oscar nominations – for The Godfather (1972), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Great Santini (1979), The Apostle (1997), A Civil Action (1998) and The Judge.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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