Riveting drama

Title : The Judge
Cast : Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall and Vera Farmiga
Direction : David Dobkin
Genre : Drama
Rating : ****1/2
Like : Screenplay, camerawork and both the Roberts
UnLike : Running time

This is an intense legal drama that is brought vividly to life with all its foibles, love-hate relationships but has at its core a torrid relationship between father and son.

The lead roles are played by two brilliant actors, one in his prime and the other in his twilight. Robert Downey Jr, is Henry Palmer and Robert Duvall as crabity Judge Joseph “Joe” Palmer of the title.

Our story begins with brilliant lawyer Hank asking for postponement of his case in Chicago to attend the funeral of his mother in Carmville, Indiana. He is returning to his town after leaving it to study law. He and his dad just cannot get along.

Once in small town Carmville he is reunited with his rather diverse brothers -- Dale (Jeremy Strong) and Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio), once an excellent baseball player forced to give up due to an accident which leaves him in a humdrum condition. The condolence dinner is held in a restaurant owned by his childhood girl-friend Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga). That she has a teenage daughter Carla (Leighton Messler) makes Hank wonder if she is his child. Oh yes, there’s Hank’s daughter Lauren (Emma Tramblay) who visits him in Carmville as she is closer to him than her divorce-seeking mother.

But these strife-stricken, human ties take a back seat as old man Joe is booked for a hit-and-run case involved with the local bad boy. Hank decides to defend his dad and is backed by an alcoholic Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) who makes it a ritual of throwing up before entering court.

The cameos are well fleshed and this probably led to its undue length of 141 minutes. But the core of the story is the father-son explosive relationship because the father never wants to accept that the child is father of the man.

Director David Dobkin does an excellent job and is aided by an imaginative screenplay that keeps the viewer engrossed right through. Janusz Kamiński’s camera caresses and Hank cycling in the country-side is soothing relief.

Both the Roberts match each other frame for frame but Duval takes me five decades ago when he made his debut as Boo Radley in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ where Gregory Peck played the lead as Atticus Finch. Vera Farmiga is her usual excellent and Vincent D'Onofrio, Billy Bob Thornton and Jeremy Strong also shine in this superb, not-to-be-missed human drama.