Oscars Countdown 2015 - The Judge

Ensign Lestat's Oscars Countdown, 08/02/2015

The Judge

Nominations - Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall)

Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a charismatic defense attorney and a proper douchebag. He's in the middle of court when he hears of his mother's passing. He packs his bags and heads to his old hometown after a brief interlude of fighting with his wife.

At home in Indiana it is evident that Hank has issues with his family, and especially with his father Joseph (Robert Duvall). Though both of them work in the same field (law), they do not see eye to eye and pretty much despise each other. But circumstances are about to bring them a lot closer to each other.


'The Judge' is a courtroom melodrama, reminiscent of countless other films from the '90s. It's needlessly complicated as well. It's not enough that Hank has a strained relationship with his father; no, we must throw in Hank's cheating wife, his handicapped older brother (Hank's fault), his autistic younger brother (not his fault), the supremely competent ex-girlfriend (Vera Farminga, in a role not at all suited to someone of her talents), her daughter (let's not even start with that plotline) and his continuing hate of the small town he grew up in.

I was interested in this film primarily because it's a relief to see RDJ in a non franchise role. Not that his Tony Stark isn't brilliant, but he is far more talented than that. This film isn't able to showcase his range of abilities, however. There's a moment in the beginning of the film when he says to someone, 'that's on you' - and all I could hear was Stark bellowing the same to Loki in 'The Avengers'. There's a lot of RDJ in Tony Stark, and a lot of Stark seeps into the role of Hank Palmer. Having said all that, he emotes appropriately and evokes all the right emotions from you. There's a bit in the final courtroom scene that really gets you, and that is the real testament to his talents.

But he's not the one who's nominated. It's Duvall. Was I blown away by Duvall? Nope. But his performance is definitely better than a couple of his competitors in the supporting category. The Academy has a soft spot for terminally ill characters - they're usually on the nominations list. This year's roles are widely diverse, but much like the Best Actress Supporting category, the nominees aren't the most gripping performances. Hey, I'm still wishing Sebastian Stan got a nomination for his turn in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' - so, obviously, I'm going to complain about the voters' choices. While Duvall's veteran status may give him an edge, J. K. Simmons is the likely winner as the foul-mouthed tyrant in 'Whiplash'. 

There were moments in 'The Judge' when it felt like it wanted to present a serious insight into complicated family relations. But, it didn't follow through with that promise. The melodrama got the better of the story closer to the end. And there were several unnecessary threads thrown in. RDJ's character reminded me of his character in 'A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints', which was based on that film's director's life. There too his character was estranged from his father, but there was a lot of pain in his confrontations with him. 'The Judge' just had a lot to say, and couldn't decide which story to focus on. This could have been great, but, unfortunately, it couldn't come close.

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