Caffeinated Clint
A spikeless pineapple of a film, albeit one still with enough tasty juice to stain lips, ”The Judge” may lack the gritty, rough exterior found in most contemporary dramas, but that’s more than made up for in it’s broadly-appealing Robby Benson-era yarn, the commanding and charismatic performances of it’s powerhouse leads, and the kind of sweet, meaningful message that does none of us any harm to hear now and then.
This is a solid chronicle of a family torn apart by tragedy and yet reunited by another unfortunate incident. As Hollywood as it’s execution is, the story is a realistic and commanding one that reminds us just how easy it is to lose sight of the things that matter when were preoccupied with so much else in our busy lives. It’s also, more specifically, a touching tale of a a father and son who get, what is seemingly, one last chance to get it together.. Before it’s too late.
The always-charismatic Robert Downey Jr works his magic on Hank Palmer, a successful big-city lawyer who returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral. It’s an unpleasant couple of days – not just because Hank’s burying his beloved mother, but because he and his father, the town’s judge (Robert Duvall), have a rather prickly relationship.
Just after he leaves town, Hank gets a call from brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) that his father has been taken into custody under suspicion for murder. Seems the old guy’s car may have run down a man the night before – the victim, inconveniently, someone the judge once sent to prison.
Hank returns to town and ultimately becomes his estranged father’s lawyer. The case isn’t just a chance for Hank to find out whether or not his aging father really did kill someone but also make amends with someone he hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with for over 20-years.
Look, “The Judge” is an uneven film and lacks the polish of a more proficient filmmaker. Comedy vet Dave Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”, “The Change-Up”) clearly lacks confidence – feeling the need to reemphasize plot points again and again, unable to go 30 minutes without a button-pusher scene, and resorting to ambitious but visual tricks (from having cinematographer Janus blind us with his unbearable backlight to showing off with some useless CGI or crane shots) that annoy audiences more than impress.
Fact of the matter is, the story – which Dobkin himself helped craft – isn’t a new one, it’s all been told before, but had he simply let that tale do the work, and reigned some elements of the film in a tad more, it all would’ve played better.
Having said that, this is a film impossible not to like. With Downey and Duvall, you know you’re going to get a hell of a show (performance-wise) from the actors, and you certainly do. Both aren’t just likeable and easy to watch, they’re gobsmackingly brilliant at times.
Dobkin also makes fine use of most of the supporting cast – particularly Vincent D’Onofrio and Billy Bob Thornton – though he could’ve cut Vera Farmiga and Leighton Meester from the movie and it wouldn’t have changed a thing (the subplot fixing on the rekindled romance between Downey and Farmiga’s character seems to have been forced into the script).
“The Judge” is a movie from a different time. It’s almost a throwback to the swag of family-at-odds dramas that flooded the theaters in the early ’80s. Those films relied on the characters and story to engross an audience (yep, only Downey Jr – here, producing alongside wife Susan – could get the go-ahead to make such a movie now), and though Dobkin’s film mightn’t be as effective as an “On Golden Pond” or “Places in the Heart”, it definitely wins points for trying to steer cinema back in a sweeter, simpler and more organic direction.
