Yami No Shihosha Judge
Tags: revenge

Plot synopsis:
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a successful defense attorney in Chicago who has been estranged from his family in a small town in Indiana for some time. While in court, he receives a call telling him his mother has died. As he leaves to fly to his hometown of Carlinville, it is revealed that Hank is going through a divorce (due to his wife's infidelity) and custody battle for his young daughter.
In Carlinville, Hank reunites with his older brother Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio), owner of a tire shop, and his younger brother Dale (Jeremy Strong), an autistic aspiring filmmaker who carries an old 8mm film camera everywhere he goes. Hank then stops by the small county courthouse, softly enters a courtroom, and sits in the back where he observes a case in progress. The judge is Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), Hank's father. When Joseph sees Hank for the first time in many years, at the funeral, he is treating guests with kindness but acknowledges his son coldly.
The next morning, Hank notices damage to his father's Cadillac Coupe DeVille as he is preparing to leave. Upon seeing the damage, Joseph denies knowing how it happened; but Hank believes his father was drinking and driving and damaged his own car. After a heated exchange, Hank leaves, promising never to return. But after boarding his plane, Hank learns that Joseph is being questioned by police with regard to a fatal hit and run. The victim is identified as Mark Blackwell (Mark Kiely), a recently released convicted murderer whose crimes, before the killing, Joseph had treated with leniency.
After Blackwell's blood is found on the car, Joseph is soon indicted, with prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) seeking a conviction for first-degree murder. Hank agrees to defend Joseph and learns that his father was undergoing chemotherapy. This explains Joseph's inability to remember the accident and provides a potential diminished capacity defense, but Joseph rejects any such defense because of the potential damage it would do to his legacy. During the trial Hank and Joseph confront their bitterness with each other, dating back to a teenage drunk driving accident in which Hank was driving and Glen was injured – ending the latter's potential for a career in professional baseball. Joseph saw to it that Hank was sent to a youth detention center, and Hank left Carlinville after never receiving acknowledgement from Joseph for turning his life around.
Hank also reconnects with his old girlfriend Sam (Vera Farmiga), whom he abandoned after going to a Metallica concert more than 20 years ago. He discovers that Sam has a daughter, Carla (Leighton Meester), born nine months after he left, and deals with his concern that he is Carla's father.
At trial, Hank believes he has established enough reasonable doubt in the case to result in an acquittal. But Joseph sabotages the case by testifying that although he still cannot remember the accident, he has come to believe that he probably did kill Blackwell intentionally. Joseph confesses on the stand that he was personally haunted by Blackwell's case, having seen Hank in Blackwell, and wanting to help him like he would his son. Having misread Blackwell, Joseph afterward saw him in Hank.
Joseph is acquitted of murder but convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison, though he is released on compassionate parole after seven months, his cancer being terminal. He and Hank go fishing. After acknowledging Hank as the best lawyer he knows, Joseph dies peacefully in the boat. Hank, having made peace with his father, returns to the courtroom Joseph once reigned over, and spins the judges chair, where it ominously stops, pointed at him.

Review: I completely disagree with the previous review. I have seen this short movie twice and the other review here on IMDb from 2001 has misunderstood the fundamental concepts behind the movie. I mean no offense--it is an understandable mistake. In Japanese culture (as in some other cultures, such as the ancient Greeks), the concept of "Hell" is not the same as in Christianity. It is more a place where all the dead reside. Just because the judge sends evil people to Hell does NOT mean he is evil--quite the opposite, he is good and punishes the evil with death. The defense attorney CLEARLY is EVIL in the movie--he defends ANYONE and could care less if they are guilty. His "defense" included repeated attempts to murder the judge and he defended a completely horrible man--how could he have seen as "good"?! Okay, on to the movie. It looks as if it's some sort of pilot for a failed television series. Too bad there aren't more episodes, as it really is unique. I especially love all the ways the judge puts the evil doers to death--they are VERY creative (though a bit gross).The down side? The animation is extremely poor when compared to more recent animation coming to the West. The quality is light years behind Miyazaki's movies (such as Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirted Away) and also much more choppy and poorly drawn when compared to any recent anime television series (such as Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist or even Pokemon). If you can ignore these limitations, it's still very much worth viewing.