'The Judge' A Review

 The Judge is a courtroom feel-good drama about estranged slick Chicago lawyer Hank Palmer(Robert Downey Jr.) going back to his small Indiana home town for his mother's funeral. The day after the burial the titular Judge Hank's father Joseph Palmer(Robert Duvall) is arrested under suspicion of murder one. Hank represents his father in his trial and is drawn back into the small town life he fled. Encountering an ex-girlfriend, disgruntled hick locals, and reconnecting with his brothers the film is a coming-of-middle-age tale.

The film lands at an uneasy mid-point between Cameron Crowe and John Grisham. Not hard enough for a court room drama but lacking the requisite emotional journey for a softer more contemplative story. The ensemble is great with good turns by Vincent D'Onofrio as Hank's older brother with an unrealized MLB career and Vera Farmiga as the teen GF who stuck around and bought the local diner. Duvall and Downey are obviously the stars of the show and The Judge is primarily their vehicle. Duvall playing up his cantankerousness and Downey his fast talking charm. It works and it is something a movie could be built around but almost all the other elements of the film work against its performances.

The soundtrack and score is syrupy sweet filled with early ought radio hits and ubiquitous sentimental ballads. Instead of subtly enhancing the mood it distracts from, even contradicts the action. Some of the shot composition as well is so cliche it is reminiscent of a Lifetime movie- Downey riding his Schwinn down the highway arms akimbo or laying on his mothers gravestone after a storm in the midst of a sea of fallen branches. Images that let the audience know how hard the person behind the camera is trying(and failing) to convey emotions we are already picking up on.

Good enough to watch, not good enough to make an effort to see.

Rent It.