The Judge

USA 2014
Director: David Dobkin
Certificate TK
Synopsis
US, the present. A successful Chicago defense lawyer, Hank Palmer returns to his Indiana hometown for
the first time in many years to attend the death of his mother. Though Hank retains warm relationships
with his older brother Glen and his mentally impaired younger brother Dale, his return renews hostilities
between him and his father Joe, a judge with a reputation for sternness. On the night after the funeral,
Joe leaves the house to go for a drive while the brothers have drinks at a bar, where Hank flirts with
Carla, a waitress. The next morning, the family is informed that a criminal who was convicted in a case
overseen by Joe was struck and killed on the highway the night before. Though Joe claims not to
remember the evenings events, he is charged with murder. Serving as his fathers lawyer despite the
judges resistance and his own misgivings, Hank learns that his fathers blackout may be due to
chemotherapy but Joe is reluctant to reveal his health condition because the news may cast doubt on
decisions in other recent cases. While in town, Hank grows closer to Sam, an old girlfriend who now
owns a local diner she is also the mother of Carla, who Sam implies may be Hanks daughter. After new
evidence suggests Joe caused the death intentionally, Hank reveals his fathers cancer in court in order
to foster doubt about his mental state and his memories of the night. During Joes testimony, the judge
admits that his guilt over being lenient during his first courtroom encounter with the accident victim -after which the man murdered his girlfriend prompted his harder stance with Hank. Though cleared of
the charge of premeditated murder, Joe is still found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to jail. Sam
tells Hank that Glen is Carlas father. During a visit at prison, Joe tells Hank how much he admires him as
a lawyer. Sometime later, Hank returns for Joes funeral.
Reviewed by Jason Anderson
Robert Duvall has long enjoyed a steady trade in playing stubborn, stiff-backed fathers whod rather
chew glass than yield to the feelings of the sons they dominate. The fiercest of all of these formidable
patriarchs remains Bull Meecham in The Great Santini (1979), a take-no-guff Marine pilot who treats
his family with as much tenderness as hed show to a group of runty recruits.
But like everything else in director David Dobkins milquetoast blend of courtroom dramedy and male
weepie, Duvalls smalltown judge has precious little of Meechams bluster or bite. As frosty as his Joe
Palmer may be to Robert Downey Jr. as his prodigal son in their early encounters in The Judge, the elder
characters soft core is clear well before hes seen bonding with Hanks daughter over ice cream.
Theres a similarly skin-deep quality to the cynical comments that are inelegantly used to mark the place
from which Hank too must grow in order to become the man we all know he ought to be. After being
chastised by a prosecutor for only helping guilty people beat the system, Hank blithely replies that
innocent people cant afford me. Hanks disdain for his Indiana town which comes complete with the
kind of bustling Rockwell-worthy main street thats become largely the preserve of movie fictions thanks
to the real-world impact of big-box retailers gives Downey further opportunities to display his flintier
side before the movie smoothes over any such edges.
Of course, Hank is a model son from the get-go, having followed his fathers path into a law career yet
eager to mock the tenets that Joe holds to be sacred. In so doing, Hank has successfully preserved the
battles that marked his adolescence so that they may be resolved here. As capable as both actors are,
they cant enliven the most plodding aspects of Joe and Hanks reconciliation. Since the shouting

matches feel so rote, its unsurprising that Duvall and Downey convey something richer in the quieter
moments, such as a handful of seemingly Amour-inspired scenes in which Hank is confronted with the
extent of Joes physical decline.
Busy with comedies and Marvel Comics fare since The Soloist (2009), Downey displays a palpable relish
in his approach to The Judges meatiest moments. Its too bad the material does him so few favours.
Since Hanks skills in the courtroom are never in doubt and the case itself largely devoid of juicy
revelations, The Judge fails to develop much charge as a legal procedural. Thats all the more
unfortunate given Billy Bob Thorntons sly turn as Hanks equally cunning adversary. DOnofrio and
Farmiga also deserve better than their thinly conceived characters.
Most disappointing about The Judge is how poorly it serves Duvall. While its true that the fury of his
Oscar-nominated performance in The Great Santini wouldve shattered a movie as slight as this one, it
wouldve certainly benefited from the level of nuance Duvall displayed as the taciturn old-timer in Aaron
Schneiders Get Low (2009). Its tempting to imagine what The Judge mightve been if the lead role had
gone to Jack Nicholson, who was originally offered the part, or Clint Eastwood, who invested a surprising
degree of wit into the sheer hogwash of Gran Torino (2008), which was scripted by The Judge co-writer
Nick Schenk. But chances are Judge Joe Palmer would always be too ordinary to belong in the pantheon
of cinemas greatest crusty geezers.