Film of the Week: The Judge

Robert Downey Jr’s first leading role since MARVEL and Sherlock Holmes, and is a nice break away from the action packed nature of those previous films. A slower paced, emotional, and dramatic, The Judge focuses on Hank Palmer, a big-city lawyer, after hearing about his mother’s passing, returns to his childhood home. His relationship with his father is practically non-existent, but when his father, Joseph Palmer is suspected of a hit and run, they must see eye-to-eye of they are to have some defence. From then on, Hank pursues the quest to finding out the truth, reconnecting with his father and two brothers, and put his skills as a lawyer to the test.

This will certainly get you hooked and may bring a tear to your eye, the entire story is played out well. It didn’t feel as if there was anything that didn’t need to be there, but there were plenty of scenes that could have been included. At 2 hours 21 minutes, it’s a fairly long film already, and so making it any longer may steer people’s interests away. However, throughout the film, we don’t see the aftermath of the trial that was going on at the beginning of the film. Hank’s character started as a stereotypical natural big-city lawyer – someone who can defend himself, adapt to any given situation by using his skill, along with brandishing his power when necessary – but developed considerably as he slowly brought back a small spark between him and his father, so it would have been nice to know what the case at the beginning of the film would have gone and how he would have reacted according to the way he is now, instead of the person he was back then.

During his stay, he meets up with his old girlfriend, Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga), and the two share a few moments together. At the very beginning, we learn that Hank is splitting up with his current wife and is going to move out, taking his daughter, Lauren (Emma Trembley) with him. We don’t see her at all for the rest of the film, nor do we see if Hank and Sam ever do get together. It’s possible to speculate that their relationship would be too complicated if restarted, but it was heading that way, it would have been nice to see some sort of conclusion instead of guessing.

During the scenes in court, the father-son relationship was written well, both professionally and personally. Hank knows what he is doing, knows what to say when and knows exactly when to object, giving the other lawyer a run for his money, but that doesn’t mean his opponent won’t do the same. It does get quite intense, and when it comes down to the verdict, you really have no idea what the jury has decided. I’m glad they went down the route they did, because, whilst it would have been a huge relief, it wouldn’t have given way to the final moment when Hank knew that his relationship with his father remained mostly professional. He spent many years away, and so trying to rekindle would be difficult. Both Robert Downy Jr, and Robert Duvall played their parts exceptionally well and their chemistry together was immaculate.

As well as the two leading characters, you also have Hank’s brothers, Glen Palmer (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Dale Palmer (Jeremy Strong), and although they are side characters, they are just as important as the two main leads. They don’t have the same complicated relationship as Hank does with his father, but they don’t always see eye-to-eye, giving more depth to the overall story.

It’s not a perfect film, but it does have plenty of good elements and they were placed in the right order to increase the drama, the impact, and the warmth. I wouldn’t say I have mixed feelings about the film, I do think it’s brilliant, but it would have been nice to see just a little bit more to round off the couple of questions you may have whilst watching. It came out in 2014, and I had only now gotten around to watching it, and I’m glad I did. It’s a classic drama, and one I do recommend for a good night in whilst you’re relaxing just before the weekend.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)