With Downey there's always going to be a little bit of Tony Stark in every performance, and right away we see the brash arrogance that undoubtedly hides a heart of gold within big city lawyer, Hank Palmer. After a troubled childhood Hank escaped his small town roots and made something of himself as a high-priced defense attorney. "Innocent people can't afford me", he tells the schlub of a prosecutor (David Krumholtz) who has probably lost to him on more than one occasion. But a sudden phone call with a tragic message sends Hank racing back to Carlinville, Indiana for his mother's funeral and an unwanted reunion with his father, tough-as-nails Judge Joseph Palmer (Duvall). With a script by the writers of Clint Eastwood's curmudgeonly turn in Gran Torino, it's no wonder Joseph is so darn ornery. He's the kind of guy who believes in old school, All-American values. Joseph is tough but fair in the courtroom, but not so much to his own son who he deems as a troublemaker and failure. So when they are reunited there aren't a lot of hugs. Or no hugs at all, actually. If there's a compliment from Joseph it's of the back-handed sort.
Those old values were never Hank's thing, and he can't wait to leave town
and the bad memories behind until Joseph is suddenly charged with a murder. He
can't remember what happened; can't remember much lately it seems, and Hank
decides to stick around and defend his old man who is either very ill, a
murderer and liar, or has fallen of the wagon. Or perhaps all three. Directed
by David Dobkin, who also had a hand in developing the story, The Judge
has a hard time getting out of its own way thematically. A big problem is the
sheer number of subplots, each of wildly ranging tones that crush a fairly
simple story under their weight. Hank pities his pathetic older brother Glen
(Vincent D'Onofrio), a former baseball prospect now just an average working
stiff; and his autistic younger bro Dale (Jeremy Strong), the "Fredo"
of the family. Hank has a young daughter back home and is about to get a
divorce from his cheating wife, but that's okay because an old flame resurfaces
in Samantha (Vera Farmiga), owner of the town's most popular restaurant. Oh,
and she has a daughter (Leighton Meester) who may be Hank's, although that
situation is awkward in more ways than one. You could probably get two or
three movies out of all that, but The Judge tries to fit them all into a
package just over two hours long, and it's a tough gig to pull off.
Dobkin is best known for directing comedies like Wedding Crashers and
Fred Claus, and he's clearly more comfortable when handling the many
humorous beats. He's less steady when expressing the dramatic themes, and
oversells them to make sure we "get" it. A massive thunderstorm
erupts just as family tension reaches a boiling point; Hank and Joseph argue
angrily and stomp away in opposite directions with the camera practically
screaming "Look at the gulf between them!!” These are problems caused by
inexperience handling issues of actual weight, and Dobkin isn't served well by
a soundtrack that is begging you to tear up. Photographed beautifully by Janusz
Kaminski (Schindler's List), the film strikes a perfectly homey image of
America through the lens of Norman Rockwell.
Tonal issues aside, The Judge is saved by the performances of Downey and
Duvall, two great actors with more in common than one would think. There's a
certain level of showmanship in both men, each getting their chances to either
chew scenery or strum at a heart string. Duvall really shines as the film goes
along and we learn more of Hank's predicament, while Downey is consistently
motor-mouthed throughout. They're difficult roles to play because neither Hank
nor Joseph is immediately sympathetic. It takes time for the actors to earn
that from us, but they eventually do. The courtroom scenes, on the other hand,
are no different than anything you'd find on an episode of Law &
Order, with the exception of Billy Bob Thornton as a mustache-twirling
prosecutor played by Billy Bob Thornton. Why not just stamp "bad guy"
on his forehead? The Judge is too busy for its own good and tries too hard to play with our emotions, but as solidly entertaining family drama it's guilty as charged.
