The Judge
Director: David Dobkin
By Alex Watson
Returning home to your old surroundings is always a hard thing, because it always stirs up emotions and memories (sometimes even regrets) that you thought you had once left behind. We are never sure of the reactions that will have when we see our loved ones, but we hope they are pleasant. For my first Toronto International Film Festival, I was lucky enough to catch a gala screening today of the Robert Downey Jr starring The Judge (complete with an introduction by director David Dobkin) at Roy Thomson Hall. This has opened to some mixed yet positive acclaim, but will this be a TIFF 14 darling?
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr) is a successful Chicago attorney who is forced to abandon an important case to attend his mothers funeral in Carlinville, Indiana. For Hank, this means having to re-establish contact with his father Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) whom he loathes. But when he arrives in town, a major bombshell is dropped when his father is charged with first degree murder! Forced to defend his fathers honor and reputation, slowly a variety of bombshells will hit Hank and he soon learns the man he hates could well be a very different man than he imagined.
The Judge is a movie that while very heart rendering and emotionally prominent, isn't quite the sturdy drama that we were hoping for. At the centre of the film, the father and son relationship is one that is very strained from years of disconnection. Hank is a character that has to fight to win our respect because when we first meet him, he is an arrogant hot-shot attorney who defends the guilty and is preparing to face a bitter divorce with his cheating wife. Joseph, a man of honest integrity openly scorns the man his son has become and rejects his help at every turn. Both men are equally as stubborn and bitter as each other, but now they are forced to work together and they resent it!
David Dobkin is a surprise choice for this type of film given his more comedic roots, and in places his lack of confidence handling this type of drama shows through. Our characters are never given the space they need to flourish and while tempers are frayed and tears are wept, it cannot help escaping the fact that Dobkin hopes we will look past this and be swayed by the heart melting content such as Hanks reconnection with old flame Sam (Vera Farmiga). I admire Dobkin for his efforts, and he his showing signs of moving forward and perhaps being a solid director. But this effort just feels too drawn out to really be a contender for the big prizes.
Family matters play an important part of this movie and each member of the Palmer household is suffering individually. Older brother Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio) was robbed of a baseball career by a rash act by Hank, and quietly has suffered in silence ever since. Joseph however, is a man who mind and body are starting to betray him and his claim of having no memory of the night of incident, only fuels Hank's belief that the recovering alcoholic has fallen off the wagon. But as we frequently learn, things are not so straight forward and secrets will come to light that threaten to make Joseph's defense sink or swim.
While The Judge has its moments of great laughs and humor, such as Hank's excellent put downs on three hard drinking locals, it is the courtroom scenes that provide the real fireworks. The relationship between the two men is literally being put on trial and this is the ground they will use to make or break things. The introduction of vengeful prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton), who drinks from his own retractable silver cup gives the proceedings the gripping feel it requires. The finale though, will melt even the toughest of hearts as Hank grills Joseph on the stand. What comes next is truly earth shattering! Prepare your bottom lip for severe shaking.
The element that keeps this film alive however, is the electric chemistry between Downey Jr and Duvall. Currently stepping out of his Iron Man suit, Downey Jr shows just what a versatile actor he can be as Hank. Thankfully, it is his underplaying of any number of emotionally charged moments that make his performance so memorable and he succeeds in winning over a once skeptical audience that Hank is worthy of our love and attention. Duvall, in his strongest and most featured performance in some time is a revelation. Joseph is a sour and miserable old coot, but the 83 year old finds the ground the work with to raise him up to a level that we can appreciate. A once proud man, Joseph has now been reduced to a decaying wreck that is on his last legs. Through Duvall, we feel this pain thoroughly.
While we had hoped that The Judge would be an affair to remember, it slightly misses the mark needed. The performances of Downey Jr and Duvall are most certainly award worthy. But it is let down by a rather formulaic direction and script. But on the affecting scale, this scores very highly and gives us hope for Dobkin's future in film.
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