The Judge

Since his career revival a little over a decade ago (which, lets face it was given quite the kick off with a certain armoured Avenger) the supreme talent that is Robert Downey Jr. has not only gone from strength to strength in the realms of big, epic and often action-packed franchise films, including roles such as Tony Stark and a duly deft turn as Sherlock Holmes, but as an evolving and powerful actor generally. For me, along with legions globally, it has been a joy to see the resurgence of the great acting powerhouse, and also very likable chap that is Robert Downey Jr. What's more as a result of this we get to see him leave Victorian England and Stark tower behind every now and then, and expand his repertoire even further and dazzle us again in new solo outings, often supported by a great story and cast. Such is the case in The Judge.

Essentially this film from last year sees Downey Jr. take on the role of Hank Palmer, the brilliant city-slick lawyer who returns to confront his country roots, his past and his respected court judge of a father (played by Robert Duvall) who has been charged with murder.That in terms of plot, is all you really need to know. Yes there are some added embellishments of the friends and family Palmer left behind that he bonds with again, along with the added dimension of the loving woman and potential child he must re-connect with. All of which are nice touches, if a little over-embellished. Yet the real appeal to me of The Judge is the way it is shot, the way it is performed and the way in which it all comes together as a highly enjoyable package.

Sometimes I leave the best star performance until last, but not today. There is no denying it - Robert Downey Jr. is superb as Hank Palmer. Perfectly poised and and presented at the beginning and so too at the end, where his character certainly has something of a different outlook on life. And in the middle we get a wonderful plethora of perfectly pitched moments of sorrow, love, laughter, joy, darkness and light that Downey Jr. is masterful at delivering, both to whomever he is playing opposite in any one scene and to the audience as a whole. In some ways some of these great moments are completely expected in the narrative of the film but that just does not matter - it does not detract at all from the pleasure one gets in watching them play out.
Opposite him we have Robert Duvall who, whilst not as openly expressive and perhaps full-on as Downey, certainly matches him in term of gravitas and powerful performance. Though I wager Duvall is often sick nowadays of having to play characters at a certain time of life who have some sort of fatal or crippling ailment (in this film for example "the Judge" has terminal cancer) I  can see in this instance why the writers did it and it does fit well into the story. However this is the one area where I feel Duvall and co. didn't quite live up. Yes this aspect of his character is deeply touching and resonating and it makes for some remarkable moments between him and Downey, yet I never really felt that Duvall put much thought in how this was coming across on screen. Nor really did anyone else around him seem to punch through that particular shroud. It simply felt that he was "going through the motions"; not in terms of playing a man who has cancer (which is naturally very difficult and harrowing) but in how he envisioned how such would effect those around him. It seemed to be something of a background shadow, which Duvall's character never really seemed to acknowledge at all apart from absolutely necessary. This may be down to a combination of writing, directing and acting choices, but I feel at some point a wrong decision was made there. Regardless, Duvall is mostly masterful, and as said more than matches Downey Jr. scene for scene which makes for some great chemistry between the two.

Other notable performances - well the ensemble supporting cast was quite something here, and unlike some cases most of them truly delivered. I for one was overjoyed to see the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Leighton Meester, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, and less-well known talents such as Vera Farmiga all come spectacularly good. Truly, each cast member and each character is brilliant to watch on screen.

It's true, The Judge may not be a future classic, in terms of overall film or massively memorable performances, and its also true that there are numerous moments that you can see were done to play to a cliché and to appeal to the awards season montage. And I just do not care. It is an emotional roller-coaster, but a sublime, subtle and supreme one that for the most part knows exactly what and how to pitch to an audience, and the result in my view is a great film.