The Judge
Tags: melodrama, flashback, plot twist, murder, home movie

Plot synopsis:
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is one of the best defense attorneys in Chicago. He's in the bathroom at the courthouse when the prosecuting attorney Mike Kattan (David Krumholtz) questions his ethics and the fact that he defends so many guilty people. Hank tells him that innocent people can't afford him. Kattan asks how he sleeps at night. Hank tells him, he sleeps in a beautiful house with a smoking hot wife.In the courtroom, Hank gets a phone call from his brother telling him that their mother died. Hank requests that the trial be suspended until he can return. Kattan doesn't believe him, so Hank plays the voice-mail. The case is suspended.Outside Hanks house, Hank bonds with his daughter Lauren (Emma Tremblay). He goes inside and tells his wife (Sarah Lancaster) that he wants custody of Lauren once they're divorced. The happy life he painted for Kattan, isn't exactly the truth. His wife tells him that he is a horrible father because he doesn't know when Lauren gets up for school, who her teachers are, what her favorite color is. Hank leaves and heads to Carlinville, Indiana for his mother's funeral.Hank goes to the local courthouse and watches his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) deliberate over a case where a guy says he can't afford child support even though he just bought a new truck. Judge Palmer dispenses small town justice and orders the man give his truck keys over to the pregnant woman suing him so that she can sell it. The Judge also points out that she is responsible too by asking her, "You do know how babies are made, right?" At the end of the case, Judge Palmer struggles to remember Bailiff Gus's name. His memory is slipping.Hank pays his respects to his mom at the funeral home viewing. We meet his younger brother Dale (Jeremy Strong) who seems to be Autistic and hides behind a Super-8 camera filming everything. We also meet oldest brother Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio). He used to be the local star baseball player, but his career was sidelined by a car accident. Now he's an out of shape guy who owns a shop.At the Palmer house, Hank discovers that his dad stores all of his junk in his old room and no one made preparations for him to stay. The next morning all of the Palmers leave early to get breakfast at the local diner before going to the funeral. Hank shows up late and sarcastically thanks them for inviting him. The Judge gets up and leaves without really acknowledging Hank at all. Hank sees that his old high school girlfriend Samantha (Vera Famiga) works at the diner. They haven't seen each other in years.At the mom's funeral, the Judge is warm and friendly to everyone except Hank. They don't get along at all. They go to the cemetery and bury the mom.That night, the Palmer boys decide to go to a local bar and the Judge goes to the convenience store.At the bar, locals start to give Glen shit because they've all had poor experiences in the Judge's courtroom. Glen is about to fight them when Hank steps in and through fast talking shames the locals into leaving. This impresses young bartender Carla (Leighton Meester) who starts making out with Hank later that night.When the Palmer boys get home they see that their dad damaged the front of his car. The next morning the Judge yells at them for taking his car out. He doesn't remember causing the damage himself.The police show up and question the Judge about his whereabouts the night before. Someone hit and run Mark Blackwell and now he is dead. The Judge goes with the police for questioning, but Hank rushes in and stops things. The Judge insists that because he didn't do anything wrong, there was no harm in talking to the police. Both the Judge and Blackwell were seen at the convenience store last night. The Judge says he went a different way home than where Blackwell's body was found.The Palmers all go home and the Judge makes fun of Hank for not being able to hold his marriage together. This infuriates Hank so he leaves and gets on a plane to go back to Chicago. Before the plane takes off, Glen calls him to tell him that the Judge has been arrested. Forensics shows Blackwell's blood on the Judges car.Hank goes to the jail and bails out his dad. The Judge refuses to let Hank represent him and instead hires local inexperienced attorney C.P. Kennedy (Dax Shepard). Lawyering seems to be a side job to Kennedy running a shop. They find out the Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) is going to be handling the prosecution. Dickham has a reputation, so Hank sticks around to help Kennedy pick a jury. He does it entirely by asking what kind of bumper sticker each candidate has on their car. If its something about having an honor roll student or anything like that, he passes. He does accept people if they have stickers that say things like Gun Control means using two hands and Missing: Wife and Dog, reward for Dog like from the trailer for the movie.Hank breaks out his old Metallica shirt and bike and starts riding around town. He rides no handed on his bike and wipes out. Samantha and her daughter Carla the bartender pick him up and give him a ride. Carla and Hank don't tell Samantha that they made out the other night, but their stories clash regarding whether or not they've met. She is honest, he's not.Hank and Samantha hang out and catch up a little. They break into the diner like they did as kids and then she tells him that she doesn't just work there, she owns it now. They didn't have to break in, she wanted to because it was just like old times. Plus it was worth a broken window to see Hank climb the building. They eat pie and she comes on to him, but he rejects her advances and explains that he is going back to Chicago as soon as he can. She is insulted that he'd think she wanted anything more than just a hook up and tells him to lock up when he leaves because she is going to go home and masturbate.A security tape shows that the Judge lied about his trip home. He said he went one direction, saw that the road was washed out and went back the other way. The security tape shows that his timeline doesn't match up.Hank asks Dale about the Judge's condition. Dale says that he is fine and keeps a routine where he goes and plays Chess with Doc Morris (Denis O'Hare) every week. Hank remembers his dad doesn't play Chess so he asks if Dale has any footage of that. He does. They look at the film and we find out that the Judge is getting some sort of medical treatment.Hank goes to meet with Doc Morris and finds out that his dad has Cancer and has been getting chemotherapy even though they caught it too late. Hank asks what the side effects are and finds out that they include memory loss.Hank tells the Judge that he knows about the chemo and wants to use that in court. Blackwell was a kid who the Judge went light on. After Blackwell did minimal time, he killed his girlfriend. Then the Judge threw the book at him. Blackwell had just gotten out of jail. So the prosecution has the Judge at the scene of the accident and motive to make it murder. The Judge's pride prevents him from wanting to use being sick as a defense. No one, aside from the doctor and the late wife, knows about the Cancer. He says that people don't remember any of the great stuff Ronald Reagan did, they only remember him as a senile old fool. He doesn't want that to be his legacy too. Hank points out that he is just a small town Judge and he'll have no legacy.Since Hank is going to be in Indiana for awhile, he has his daughter Lauren come visit. He warns her that his father is a mean man and she shouldn't take it personally. Much to Hank's surprise, the Judge is delightful to Lauren and tells her that she's the first girl they've had in the family in a very long time. That night, Hank and Lauren are hanging out and hear a noise from the Judge's room. Hank goes to investigate and sees that his dad is out of it, struggling to walk and has soiled himself. Hank takes him into the bathroom, undresses him and helps him in the shower to clean him off.The Judge wants to take the stand during his case, but Hank doesn't want him to. The Judge says that only guilty people refuse to defend themselves. They talk about the best lawyers they've ever seen. Hank tells the Judge about one he respected and the Judge tells Hank about one who had integrity, clearly something he feels his son lacks. Hank and the Judge have a huge fight.Hank was driving under the influence the night Glen got in the car accident and got injured. His dad threw the book at him. He was always hard on Hank, but points out that because of that, Hank turned out fine. Hank says he turned out fine on his own. The Judge reminds him that he is the one who paid for Hank to go to law school and become a lawyer. Hank graduated at the top of his class and never got a congratulations from his dad. In all fairness, Hank also never thanked his dad. This visit to Carlinville is the first time they've spoken since Hank left home at 18.Hank takes his daughter to the airport to go home and notices that she has a lot of the same mannerisms that Carla has. He goes home and checks dates for homecoming and realizes that Carla was born nine months after the last night he spent with Samantha. It looks like he may have been seriously making out with his daughter!The Judge takes the stand. Dickham jogs the Judge's memory and we find out that on the night Blackwell died, they were both at the convenience store. When Blackwell saw the Judge he told him that since the Judges wife was buried in the same cemetery as the girl Blackwell killed years ago, when he goes there, he can piss on both of their graves. Motive established. Hank questions him. We find out that the reason the Judge was initially easy on Blackwell was because when Blackwell was a child the Judge saw he was no different than Hank, a young boy who screwed up from time to time. Hank brings up the chemo, much to the surprise of everyone. This infuriates the Judge who tells Hank that after this they're done forever. The Judge admits to memory loss. He still can't remember Gus's name even though Gus has been his Bailiff for over 20 years. Dickham cross examines. The Judge absolutely does not remember killing Blackwell. Dickham says he has no further questions, but the Judge volunteers, that while he doesn't remember killing Blackwell, he's glad he is dead.The jury deliberates. They come back with a not guilty verdict to murder, but guilty to manslaughter. He's sentenced to four years in prison.Hank goes back to Chicago and runs into Kattan in the bathroom again. He's a changed man. He's on a losing streak with cases and decides to stick with it.Seven months later, the Judge is released from prison on parole. Hank picks him up. They go fishing. The Judge tells him that the reason he was hard on Hank for so many years is because while he saw Hank in Blackwell, he also saw Blackwell in Hank and worried that if he hadn't been tough on Hank, he wouldn't have turned out to be the man he is today. The Judge tells him that before when Hank asked him who the best lawyer he ever saw was, he was wrong. The best lawyer he ever saw was Hank. Hank finally gets his dad's approval. Then the Judge dies in the fishing boat.Hank asks Samantha if Carla is his daughter. She's not. She's Glen's daughter. Samantha was mad that Hank ditched her, so she hooked up with his brother since he seemed really sweet, unlike Hank at that time. Glen doesn't know. He's married now and has two sons, so she never wanted to bother him with that.After the Judge's funeral, Hank goes into the courtroom where his dad sat for so many years. He spins his dad's chair seemingly contemplating.

Review: Not a simple courtroom drama at all, the story is more about Hank Palmer (Downey)'s struggle to understand his relationship with his father and to accept where he came from.
This movie is definitely worth sitting through for amazing performances by both Downey and Duvall, who could both be up for Oscar nominations for their roles as the son and father, respectively.
While its premise is not necessarily unique and it has its fair share of clichés, The Judge is a deeply moving film that showcases the acting powerhouse that is Robert Duvall and the undeniable versatility and magnetic screen presence of Robert Downey Jr. There are also strong supporting performances from Vera Farmiga (she and RJD have great chemistry), Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jeremy Strong.
Farmiga, Dax Shepard and Billy Bob Thornton are all great, but I felt they were somewhat underused.Even though I think that there was a bit too much going on and at times it got a bit too sentimental, I still very much enjoyed The Judge for the most part.
The Judge is a deeply moving film that showcases the acting powerhouse that is Robert Duvall and the undeniable versatility and magnetic screen presence of Robert Downey Jr. Don't listen to the critics, they clearly don't know everything!
When looking at the posters (without giving much away) I got the impression that this film looks like something out of a John Grisham novel or an episode of Law and Order, and while there is the trial going on, the movie is more of a focus of this man's (Downey) relationship with his father (Duvall), his family, his unresolved issues with his present life and the life he left behind.
As I said before, it's good to see him again playing an adult male character other than Iron Man, he's great as Iron Man but this actor can do serious adult drama movies and killed it as well.
It's also great to have Robert Duvall back because for the past few years he was just a cool supporting actor showing up for few scenes and that's pretty much it; but here he's GOOD!
Finally, I feel like there weren't enough of the court room scenes, that are my favorite ones; they keep showing those a bit boring and useless family drama dynamic argument when the main plot take place around this super interesting case.
Overall The Judge is an effective and well directed movie with performances that all are very good, the story is very interesting, showing family bonding and doing something good for the world as when you walk out of this movie, the only thing you want to do is call your father..
"My father is a lot of unpleasant things, but murderer is not one of them."The Judge may not be the highly effective powerhouse courtroom drama we were expecting when we first heard about the pairing of Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall, but it isn't the terrible film some critics are describing it as either.
It is a somewhat effective melodrama when it centers on the father and son family dynamics, but when it tries to include other subplots like the courtroom drama scenes and the relationship with a former lover, the film falls flat and feels overlong.
Audiences who were expecting a Grisham style courtroom drama will be disappointed because that aspect of the story falls flat, but as a film centering on a dysfunctional father and son relationship it succeeds thanks to the two lead actors.
There are some powerful scenes, but they are ruined sometimes by the clichés the film follows.Aside from Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall's powerful performances (they are both at their best here), there is also a very interesting supporting performances from Vincent D'Onofrio.
Focussing on a stubborn old Judge (Robert Duvall) who is alleged to have killed an ex-convict in a hit and run, and his estranged lawyer son (Robert Downey Jr) who is defending him in a small-town court, all the while trying to reconcile their broken relationship, I wanted to be swept up in it.
Take nothing away from the cast though, Robert Downey Jr nails his key dramatic scenes (although he relies on his trademark cocky charisma a tad too much in the opening 30 minutes), Robert Duvall is fearless in his portrayal of an aging man losing his faculties, and Vincent D'Onofrio demonstrates why he should be getting more big screen supporting work, with a nuanced take on Downey Jr's older brother who never got to leave town for bigger and better things.
Wasn't expecting this to be as amazing as it was.Downey's always good, but this was a Best Supporting Actor winner for Robert Duvall.
Based on the trailer, my anticipation for seeing "The Judge" was high – – Robert Downey Jnr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton great cast.
When on the day of the funeral Judge Palmer gets into his own brand of legal trouble, a battle ensues as to whether Hank can overturn his father's stubborn views that he is better represented by the local hick lawyer cum shopkeeper C.P. Kennedy (played extremely well by Dax Sheperd).Surrounding this main story are the various sub-plots involving his relationship with his three brothers, his past high school flame and his hauntingly torrid past within his home town.There is great acting on display here.
However, I felt Downey Jnr sometimes drifted into being (as my son neatly put it) "a bit Tony Stark-ish in places": playing out the old disarming comedy schtick works brilliantly in the Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes films, but in this intense drama it sometimes detracted from the character of the film.
'THE JUDGE': Three Stars (Out of Five)Courtroom drama film about a successful Chicago lawyer who returns home to Carlinville Indiana (a fictional town), where he grew up, when he finds out his mother died.
The film is emotional, at times, and well acted but it's also pretty uninvolving and extremely uroriginal.Downey Jr. plays Hank Palmer; a wealthy Chicago defense attorney.
While RDJ does his best with what he's given to work with, and Robert Duvall proves, yet again, that he can turn in a great performance regardless of the screenplay, it is the screenplay itself that pulls the legs out from under what could have been a nice little film.
Even though the film boasts of two stand out performances from Downey Jr. and Duvall, they can do little much to save this hotchpotch of courtroom dramatics and familial dysfunction, neatly wrapped in a conventional package that does whatever it takes to shout IMPORTANT, and, please remember us at Academy Awards time.The only surprise in this long, drawn-out, mushy, clichéd, melodrama is a risqué bit of incest; a refugee from a previous draft, perhaps, that somehow made the screen, possibly at the insistence of Downey Jr, who realized his flick needed a little spice.
He travels to his hometown, Carlinville, Indiana, and meets Glen, his estranged father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) and his slowed brother Dale (Jeremy Strong) that is obsessed for making films.
"The Judge" is a movie with great cast and performances in an average family drama.
In its current form, however, it's a rare hot mess that succeeds mostly because of the audacity and chemistry of its performers, on top of the entertaining content it provides us, despite its lengthy runtime (one-hundred and thirty-seven minutes minus credits).The film concerns Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.), an immensely successful, arrogant Chicago lawyer, who returns to his hometown of Carlinville, Indiana for his mother's funeral, leaving behind an unsatisfied wife who wants out of their marriage and a young daughter who knows a bit too much for her age.
After being granted the ability by Joseph, Hank now has to go about defending his father, as he is up against the equally-renowned prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton).I cannot proceed further into analysis until I recognize the beauty of Downey, Jr. and Duvall's chemistry and their individual performances.
When put together and given personalities that the men can convey in their sleep (Downey Jr.'s cocky, holier-than- thou attitude and Duvall's all-knowing attitude but occasionally vague intentions), the film explodes on screen.Then there's the man who is likely going to get little praise, due to his minimal involvement until the final act of the film, Billy Bob Thornton, doing the best Billy Bob Thornton performance possible.
The movie really takes its time, but without any actual gain.Duvall's acting is good as the father but Downey seems more arrogant than it should be to emit the emotions such a dramatic theme requires.Overall: I personally would pass it if I was aware about the premise, but if you have 2 1/2 hours to kill....
Reading that a couple other actors were considered for Duvall's role, I can't imagine anyone else as "The Judge." The plot is riveting with a couple other plot lines interwoven, and in a very meaningful way.Duvall and Downey carry the film, but other performances are equally good.
This is a touching and emotional movie about the bonds we have with our family, our roots, and what is truly important in life.Definitely not just a legal drama, although as you would except with a title like "Judge", there are a few courtroom scenes.
The real story and bulk of the movie is about family and coming with grips of who you are and what you stand for in life.Great, great acting by Robert Duvall (almost perfect) and not bad acting by Robert Downey Jr. I generally like Robert Downey Jr, yet his representation of the character here was a bit flat in some scenes, but powerful and very convincing in other scenes.I gave this movie a 9 mostly for the storyline and flow, and also for the powerful acting.
So whoever you are, wherever you are, you will be touched by this story, it will make you think and realize that if there's something you need to correct in your life, now is the right time.This is something different, something special, it's a great drama with great laughs, there's a lot of wit and heart in it, and we all hope to see more movies like this in the future.
There's mystery, humor, charm, love and a great deal of tension in this story, and the brilliant performances by Downey and Duvall are remarkably matched by the supporting cast.
He's a smart character and does have a way of saying exactly what we want him to.Even then, the whole thing has a very "just out of film school" feel to it- some really obvious editing, and blatant music cues (that try to make you think you're feeling more emotion than you are) also add to the amateur feel.So in conclusion, I wouldn't really recommend this unless you love Robert Downy and Robert Duvall and don't mind an otherwise mediocre 2.5 hour film.
But if you want a great story, lots of character development and first rate acting then The Judge is about as good as you'll get this year.Robert Downey, Jr. has always shown himself to be a top quality actor.
and i love duvall so...the trailer is so inadequate as an appetizer.wowmany times during the film i simply looked at my sweetheart in joyful disbelief and when the credits rolled i was floored.i heard that RDJr. wanted to make this for quite some time and i might realize whyit is in part a proactive completion of some of the 12 steps ritualizing on film, thru acting, a lot of themes of addiction and form whence it may comethere's a couple lines in the film where he tells someone to seek help, which he echoes in real life as on the howard stern show from last week where he tells a caller to go to al anon meetingsRDJs character uses the non violent warriors way approach when confronting many themes of family history and addiction which can lead one astray and the consequences there-inwhile plugging the judge on the same stern show afore mentioned he said he wished to pay his old girlfriend sarah jessica a visit, to just catch up on life.
Ugh, a simply dreadful hodge podge of courtroom thriller and family drama.Good actors like Robert Duvall, Robert Downey, Jr. and Vera Farmiga are asked to do something with a preposterous script that no one could save.
I saw the judge ,Robert duval is one of my favorite actors,he is a good man also,but why he did this movie had to be money!!!,I wasted my money seeing this movie-downey at times can be a good actor but this story was sick, incest hinted ,not a movie you go home feeling good about ,instead a movie that you seen 100 times as a court drama -nothing new here.i will not ore you with the details that is for you to see and judge.i judge this movie as 1 of the 10 worst of the year.no creativity no soul, just boring people .1 star.
It's basically says that since Duvall's character is a judge, he should be allowed to walk on a hit and run murder charge.Robert Downey play a hot shot lawyer, whose expertise is more or less in defending rich criminals and keeping them out of jail.
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a big-city lawyer representing his estranged father, Judge Joseph (Robert Duvall), accused of murdering a man in a car-bicycle accident late at night.
The Judge stars an all star cast featuring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Robert DuVall, Ver Farmiga and Billy Bob Thorton and is as surprisingly bad as a film can get.
The plot follows Hank Palmer, a stereotypical hot shot lawyer played effortlessly by Downey as he begins to prep for the case of his life, defending his own father, played by Robert DuVall.
he just has to take the long way home.Robert Duvall seems to enjoy playing the small town Judge who never could balance his professional and personal life...and now faces an even bigger challenge.
There are elements of drama and comedy, thriller and court procedural, love story and family dysfunction all haphazardly thrown together in a 2 hour and 12 minute mess of a movie.Downey is great in his role as a prodigal son returning home to defend his judge father who is accused of a crime hard on the heels of his wife's death.
Instead of making this film fantastic, the reputations of the two huge legends Robert Downey, Jr. and Robert Duvall just feel like they weigh this story down.
The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vera Farmiga, and Billy Bob Thornton.Hank (Downey) comes home to Carlinville, Indiana, for his mother's funeral.
The Judge is an impressive picture, much due to the incredible performances of Robert Duvall being Joseph Palmer and Robert Downey Jr. playing Hank Palmer, father and son.
The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, and Billy Bob Thornton.
I absolutely loved this film,Robert Downey jr is such an underrated actor I think.He is soooooo good in this film showing his emotions,Robert Duvall was excellent as well.Bit of a tear jerker but really worth the watch.Robert Downey jr is a hot shot lawyer who never loses a case.When his father ,who is the judge back home is accused of murder,he steps in to defend his estranged father.I thought the acting was outstanding in this film and would definitely recommend it.It shows the tribes and tribulations that lots of families go through and how they still love each other when life gets hard.Set in Massachusetts the scenery is beautiful..
Duval and Downey are terrific but there are also some excellent support performances from the likes of Billy Bob Thornton and Vera Farmiga.
Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall gave us great performances of a father( who is judge) and a lawyer son.
Robert Duvall's performance as an irascible old man dying of cancer in the title role both got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and is the highlight of the film.
Big city lawyer Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to his childhood home where his father (Robert Duvall), the town's judge, is suspected of murder.
This one is almost completely centered around the family where Robert Duvall is the father and the judge of the title, and Robert Downey Jr. is his hot-shot, big-city lawyer son.So, if you really enjoy quality films with VERY powerful, intense family Drama, then you should really like this movie..
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr) a lawyer and estranged son of Judge Joe Palmer (Robert Duvall) defends his father accused of a hit and run accident that resulted in a death.
It's been a long time since I watched a movie with acting this strong and it comes from ALL the characters - Duvall's ailing, demanding, proud Judge Palmer, Downey's hurting, haunted small town boy comes home, D'Onofrio's brother who was robbed of a brilliant ball career by his brother's recklessness, Farmiga's touching girl left behind carrying a torch for a past long since gone - AND YOU BELIEVE THEM.
The acting was great, as expected from Duvall and Downey, but the formula of the film is something that you have seen before: estranged offspring comes back to his backwater home due to some death or sickness in the family and then emotional stuff happens, usually involving some hard headed old relative.
Robert Duvall, acting his age, gives a horrifyingly beautiful performance in the last stages of his very ethical character of the Judge and in his role as the father who was more lenient with the defendants than with his family.