THE JUDGE

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: C
Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Varmiga, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dax Shepard, Jeremy Strong
Screenplay by Nick Schenck and Bill Dubuque 
Directed by David Dobkin
Rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity and sexuality)

Henry "Hank" Palmer (Downey) is a successful lawyer not burdened with an overabundance of conscience ("I don't mind guilty people." he says. "Innocent people can't afford me."). One day, while in court, Hank gets a phone call that his mother has passed away. So he returns to his hometown of Carlinville, Indiana, for the funeral, seeing his estranged family again for the first time in 10 years. Hank and his father, Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), a prominent Carlinville Judge, had a falling out a long time ago and can't seem to stand each other. After the funeral, Hank is anxious to get away as quickly as possible, but a problem arises: his father is accused to of killing a man in a hit and run. When a very clear motive is quickly established for Judge Palmer to have murdered the victim, Hank has no choice but to defend the father he can't even talk to on a charge of first degree murder. 

If you are thinking that this is an intriguing premise that provides more than enough melodrama for one movie, you would be correct. But sadly, screenwriters Nick Schenck and Bill Dubuque and director David Dobkin seem to disagree, and as such they went to the local library and check out a copy of The Big Book Of Hollywood Oscar Bait Sub Plots, and went through it methodically and incorporated as many as possible. Lead character on the brink of divorce? Check. Precocious but neglected daughter whom he realizes he can't live without? Check. Mentally challenged brother? Check. Reunion with old girfriend our antagonist should have married? check. Amnesia? Check. A history of substance abuse? Check. Someone dying on cancer? Big check. Prosecutor with an unconvincing ax to grind? Check. Family fight in the middle of a tornado (seriously)? Check. Vincent D'Onofrio? Check. And the list goes on and on and on like a Journey song  that you just can't believe. and just barely stops short of including cross dressing, elf on dwarf romance, and a hit man/mobster who wants out but they pull him back in. 

At this point, I feel the need to be clear that this isn't some cynical critic who can't cut a feel good movie a break talking. I'm a sentimental fool. I cried at Bicentennial Man. But this story is so artificial and overwrought that only a few scattered moments of genuine emotion shine through. At 141 grueling minutes, The Judge is the most unnecessarily long movie I've seen in a long time. It's not the longest one, but it certainly feels like it. The only truly interesting thing about this film is seeing how great actors who are "in the moment" can bring a certain level of truth to their performances when there is none to be found in the material or it's clunky direction  (Dobkin's background is in comedies, including Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus,  which my be why he feels the need to give each vomiting sequence his full attention. All four of them.) .  


And certainly, actor Robert Downey, Jr delivers in a big way, giving a performance that runs the gamut of emotions and pulls us in (even if he is just playing Tony Stark by way of Bloom County's Steve Dallas), and the interplay between Downey and Duvall, one of the most natural, honest actors to ever grace the screen, is undeniably a treat much of the time. But Executive Producer Robert Downey, Jr completely fails, letting his director completely lose control of the movie as each talented actor must be indulged, pacing and plot flow be damned, and the script is built around creating potential Oscar clips instead of telling a good story. In addition, for a film that is supposed to be a simple character drama based around people, The Judge features some really terrible C.G.I. visual effects. Ultimately, none of the sub plots hits the mark and the movie becomes so muddled that the whole thing should have been declared a mistrial by the studio.

As Ray Barone said, "I think there's something that can make it all better: editing."