Sometimes I think that it's a shame that
Robert Downey Jr. is so good looking, charming and affable that
Hollywood has made him the star of major blockbusters. Iron Man, The
Avengers and Sherlock Holmes have made him known the world over, and
while that is terrific for him (and the audiences of those relatively
mindless action-fests) it places him in vehicles where his star is
dimmed. He really is one of the great actors of his generation. It's
too bad he so often finds himself in roles that don't offer him much
of a challenge. “The Judge” is a case in point.
Downey is Hank Palmer, a bad boy turned
success story as a rich and successful defense attorney in Chicago.
He is estranged from his family because of the hate/hate relationship
he has with his father (Robert Duvall), a small town judge in
Indiana. Hank's life, though opulent, isn't exactly ideal as he
is a workaholic and he and his wife are on the downward side of a
divorce. So when he gets word that his mother has passed away, he heads
back to his hometown alone to say his goodbyes.
There he meets up with his brothers,
one a failed athlete running an auto shop and the other mildly retarded and having never left home. Hank and his father
basically ignore each other for a couple of days through the funerary
process, and Hank readies to return to Chicago. But just before
leaving he finds that his father has been involved in a hit-and-run
accident that left a former (and hated) acquaintance of his dead.
Hank hangs around to make sure his father is afforded a decent
defense for his arraignment and trial.
As a premise, this isn't bad. As a
cast, you can't ask for much more. But the film just doesn't work,
probably because it tries to be too many things. The redemption of
the father/son relationship, the resolution of all his childhood
issues, including the long lost girlfriend, a courtroom drama, a
coming of age story, and an emotional “he's dying” film all in
one.... there is too much going on to dedicate more than cursory
attention to any aspect of it.
As a result, it ends up being a movie
that it's hard to care about. Dad might die in jail? Oh well. Hank
might lose his family? Too bad. Is that 20-something really Hank's
daughter? Maybe. Can Hank get his father off on the charges?
Possibly, but who cares? If the writers had eliminated some of the extraneous
subplots, the primary story (the story of the relationship between
Hank and his father) could have been better developed. As it is, you
are more than ready for the film to be over long before it is. Duvall (normally a terrific character actor) also
contributes to this be playing the father role as utterly without
charm or redeeming qualities. How are we supposed to care if he goes
to prison or makes up with his son when he is such a complete jackass
all the time?
I love Downey as an actor. Early in
his career he gave performance in “Less Than Zero” (1987),
“Chances Are” (1989), “Chaplin” (1992), and “Natural Born
Killers” (1994) that certified him as a tremendous talent.
Throughout his drug issues he continued to do great work (though often in bad movies and TV shows), and I still
think he is a terrific talent. Even in this role he has moments of
greatness (usually where he is required to be subtle, which he does
better than anyone ever gives him credit for). But he isn't
challenged much by Tony Stark, Sherlock or even Hank Palmer. I wish
he would get back into some the grittier work he had been doing like
“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005) where he could really sink his teeth
in. But this film isn't particularly good, and I can pretty much
assure you that I won't ever watch it again. Which, coming from a
film addict like me, might be the most damning assertion of them all.
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