Movie Review: The Judge

The American justice system, fueled at its most basic level by a jury of one’s peers, has been the example of ideals like justice and equality as well as serving as the stage for some of society’s largest debates. Every essential topic related to the American experience such as freedom of speech, personal safety, slavery, environmental awareness, voting rights, labor rights, civil rights, marriage equality, health care and birth control have played a part on some level of the judicial stage.

Cinema (far from an impartial observer) has taken the example of the court system’s inherent high drama as a frame to discuss the issues of our time. Classic “courtroom dramas”mold the greatest challenges, issues and developments of their era into morality plays of the spirit that unfold under the austere gaze of judge and jury. Films like “To Kill a Mockingbird,”“12 Angry Men,”“The Verdict,”“Kramer vs. Kramer,”“Inherit the Wind,”“Philadelphia”and “A Few Good Men” all grapple and raise the awareness of a particular controversy or issue by being equipped with intelligent and vigorous dialogue and debate, impressive performances and solid direction so as to create the overall illusion that the film is as resolute as any judgment or verdict by any court in real life.

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“The Judge” has the acting raw materials to create the gravity and force of the law in action like its legal predecessors. A stellar cast of award-winning actors and actresses like Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton and Vincent D’Onofrio deliver solid performances throughout. However, the moving, funny and touching moments, of which there are many, feel disjointed, uneven and unfortunately do not build to or even flirt with any sort of ideal, goal or subject.

In its place, director David Dobkin (known for his comedic work like “Wedding Crashers,”“The Change-Up,”“Fred Claus”and “Shanghai Knights”) presents an awkward juggling between the law and the internal dysfunction of a Midwestern family whose legacy revolves around the law and courthouse of the microscopic, rural and insulated town of Carlinville, Indiana. Unfortunately, Dobkin’s direction and Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque’s screenplay lack the resolution of what kind of film is before them: a courtroom drama or a family melodrama.

This “Long Day’s Journey into Indiana”concerns egotistical, high-profile Chicago defense attorney Hank Palmer (Downey Jr.) forced return to Indiana to bury his recently deceased mother and in the process face the town, relationships, brothers and father he left behind and hasn’t seen for years. Judge Joseph Palmer (played with stern fragility by a terrific Robert Duvall) treats his prodigal middle son like a forsaken piece of rotten roadkill. But the night after he buries his wife, Judge Palmer is quickly suspected of and arrested for the killing of Mark Blackwell, a local deadbeat, whom Judge Palmer sentenced to prison for murder but was just released on parole. Hank then must stay to defend his stubborn father and reconcile the ghosts from his childhood that he ran away from all those years ago.

The scenes between Downey and Duvall are simultaneously tense, heartbreaking, and in times of peace, subdued with a quiet serenity and care. And when these family conflicts unfold naturally in the Palmer home, local bars and diners, it is a genuine slice of generational fission that anyone can empathize with and recognize. In addition, Hank Palmer’s interactions with his older brother Glen (a fantastic Vincent D’Onofrio), younger, mentally disabled brother Dale (Jeremy Strong), and former high school sweetheart Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga) offer an impeachable example of the intimate and sensitive experience of growing up in a secluded and rural town.

However, in the elevated surroundings of the courthouse during Judge Palmer’s murder trial and the climactic argument between father and son (laid on thick during a thrashing thunder storm during a tornado warning), fly from any realm of realism, thus cheating the family drama of its genuineness while also severing the courtroom drama’s ability to tackle a larger issue. Added plot lines of Hank’s disintegrating marriage, the questionable paternity of a local college-aged girl and rekindled romance between Hank and Samantha only distract from an already convoluted and crowded film.

“The Judge”offers a compilation of great performances that would have worked better as a play on the stage, and hopefully spurs Downey to hang up his superhero mantel and delve into more serious fare. But, in its final iteration, the film is like a defendant without a strong defense and skilled lawyer: guilty and soon forgotten.