Movie Review: The Judge
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
The Judge is a film that is all about the pain and joy of family – mostly pain. Sure it is also about a prominent local judge in a small town who is accused of murder as well. It is also about how a hot-shot, big city lawyer rides into town to defend the judge (who also happened to be the lawyer’s father) in a backwater district. Mostly though, this film is about family; reconnecting and acceptance of who we all are as people that happen to find ourselves stuck with a group of “others” called family.
The film is directed by David Dobkin who is best known for directing Shanghai Knights (2003), Wedding Crashers (2005), and The Change-Up (2011). The Judge was primarily written by Nick Schenk who wrote Gran Torino (2008) and not too much else, with assistance from Dobkin and Bill Dubuque (this is Dubuque’s first credit).
The story opens with Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) skillfully winding up opposing counsel in glib and effortless fashion. Shortly thereafter Hank gets a call, mid-hearing, that he must return to his hometown for a family emergency. Clearly Hank is obligated to go, but just as clearly, it is the last thing he really wants to do. His small hometown in Indiana is his least favorite place to be. However, since we next learn that Hank is currently mid-divorce himself it seems that getting out of Chicago isn’t the worst of ideas.
Meet the Palmer family. The patriarch/despot of the family is Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall). It is fitting that the man who played Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979) and Bull Meechum in The Great Santini (1979) plays a man that even his own family calls “Judge” rather than Dad. Judge is an old school fellow that rules the roost in his house and his court.
Hank Palmer has two brothers. The older brother is Glen Palmer (Vincent D’Onofrio) and the younger is Dale Palmer (Jeremy Strong). Glen is the mama bear of the family who tries to take care of everyone and keep the peace. We quickly gather that Hank is the main obstruction in the way of that peace due to a conflict with Judge. Dale is a man-child. He is sweet and sort of wrapped up in his own little world that is structured by old and new home movie footage. His specific disability is never spelled out but the whole family works to protect and guide him (meanwhile his innocent questions tend to set off tempers in a hilarious fashion at times).
We soon meet Hank’s ex-girlfriend, Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga), who runs the local tavern. There are clearly unrequited feelings there that Hank would just as soon avoid, naturally. Incidentally, the relationship between Samantha’s daughter, Carla Powell (Leighton Meester), and Hank could literally not be any more funny yet cringe-worthy even if it tried.
Later we discover that Judge is being accused of murder. The charge is running over a man with his car. That means Judge needs a lawyer and he desperately does not want, yet really needs, Hank to defend him. This is especially obvious when a slick prosecutor, Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton), rolls into town to gleefully convict Judge. Thornton masterfully drips kind, southern gentility and malice in equal measure.
Hank now has to deal with multiple emotional landmines while trying to win a case with the most stubborn and unhelpful client he has ever had. So the uber-lawyer that never got any approval from his father now has to defend him and everyone expects him to succeed because the cost of failure, dad disgraced and in jail for what would likely be the rest of his life, is too horrible an outcome to contemplate all by itself much less letting everyone else down on top of that. Oh, yes of course there is also the element of failing in front of his father after never having had a relationship with him for the past twenty years. Basically a stacked deck of awful multiplied by a factor of horrendous is the fear that Hank has to work through while getting his work done. Defending Judge seems impossible.
The performances of Downey and Duvall are worth the price of admission all by themselves. Wonderfully nuanced performances are given from both actors. The ensemble cast is not too shabby either. Believe me. This is clearly an instance where the acting uplifts the entire work above what anyone could expect. I say that because we basically have a “C” level script. The script attempts to do too much. There were simply too many sub-plots that are either not fully addressed or never resolved at all. The goal was clearly to wrap the whole thing up in a bow at the end. This makes the ending somewhat forced and far less dramatic than it should have been.
This is one of the rare times I actually watch a move, a good movie too, and wished for more editing. Very rarely do I see something I like and want less of it. In this case, sadly, a bit less really would have made for an awesome film. Still, add the “C” script to the “A” acting and you still get a pretty good movie. It is well worth the time you will spend in the theatre watching it. The Judge is witty and enjoyable. It is just that it also seems to try to do more than it should. This cast is really a treat that should not be missed though. Additionally, I will say that as many issues as I have with the script at least the courtroom resolution is happily not predictable. No Disney-fication here. The world is a complex place. So endings are never simple.
Steven Gahm
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