Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Are you bored in the house or in the house bored? Are you continuously looking for great films to watch, even mediocre ones? Well look no further as we are here to recommend yet another fantastic film for you to check out and thankfully this one isn’t mediocre. Hell, it might even make you cry!
David Dobkin’s 2014 film, The Judge. The film is headlined by the great Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. Rounding out the rest of the cast is Vincent D’Onofrio, Vera Farmiga, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard and Billy Bob Thornton. The film’s script was penned by Nick Schenk, best known for writing 2008’s Gran Torino (another great film you should check out, Clint Eastwood kills it), and Dobkin was responsible for some rewrites to the script prior to filming. Thomas Newman’s score is near-perfect in every scene and a great score is important for a film such as this.
I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just give minor details. Essentially, RDJ plays a big-time Chicago lawyer named Henry “Hank” Palmer known for getting rich idiots off of their charges for a hefty payday. He’s the best of the best and even at one point in the film he literally says he graduated first in his class from law school so that’s gotta count for something. Anyway, Robert Duvall plays his father, Judge Joseph Palmer, the local judge of Hank’s hometown, Carlinville, Indiana. D’Onofrio and Strong play RDJ’s brothers Glen and Dale. Glen, the oldest, had a promising career ahead of him in the MLB before a horrible car crash prior to the events of the film derailed his chances and Dale is the youngest brother who has a high function form of autism. Shepard plays Judge Palmer’s first attorney, C.P. Kennedy, who’s mostly an idiot but he means well. Thornton plays Dwight Dickham, the prosecutor in Judge Palmer’s case and Farmiga plays Sam Powell, Hank’s one-time girlfriend from high school.
Hank goes home for his mother’s funeral and as he is getting on the plane to go back to Chicago he gets a call from Glen. Judge Palmer, as he’s never called “Dad” except for about three times the whole film, has been brought in for a hit-and-run murder charge. After the case makes its way to trial, Judge Palmer asks for Hank’s services and he takes the case as he is “a little light” on his pro-bono cases for the year. To top all of it off, Judge Palmer has cancer and his memory has been really spotty the last year.
Now into the more technically details for anyone curious. The cinematography is great for a film like this and everyone’s chemistry is stellar. RDJ, as per usual, executes every comedic line perfectly and while the film is very dramatic and touchy most of the time, the comedy helps to even everything out and lighten the mood at times. Downey is the best part of the film and he gives a heart wrenching performance. Duvall continuously keeps Downey in check as they go back to back during certain scenes as well. Duvall really throws everything out on the line here. The biggest complaint would probably be how the supporting character’s don’t have much screen time to develop but they shine nonetheless. I could watch this film over and over again.
If you end up watching this film let me know your thoughts, zekewestin999 on Twitter, and for more film and TV recommendations due to this craziness that is COVID-19 keep it right here at thecinemaspot on Twitter and thecinemaspot_ on Instagram!
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
4 Comments on “Film Recommendation: David Dobkin’s ‘The Judge’ (2014)”