Film No. 81 (2014) The Judge December 7th.

Film No. 81 (2014) December 7th. 8:15 PM Luna Outdoor Camelot.

The Judge

Father / son relationships have formed the backbone of many well made movies through the years. Surprisingly The Judge is a mediocre addition to that list. I say surprisingly because the cast assembled for this film is of the highest quality. Names including Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmega and Billy Bob Thornton will draw a crowd but unfortunately the script left them bereft.

The Godfather, one of the greatest films ever made, can be compared in some way with The Judge. The father (The Don, Marlon Brando and The Judge, Robert Duvall) in both cases has a fractured relationship with his son who returns home due to family circumstance. Al Pacino's Michael is brooding and underplayed, Robert Downey's Hank Palmer is a brash lawyer but we never get to really understand why there is such a rift between his character and his father, The Judge. In both films there are other brothers, more loyal, who are important to the story but once again The Judge flounders because there's not the chemistry or the quality of Don Corleone's lads. I wonder if the presence of Duvall was not coincidental.

The Judge is the keeper of the moral compass in a wheat belt town in central US. He holds secrets however and all is not what it seems as seen through the eyes of son Hank when he returns from his city highlife to mourn the death of his mother. We learn that father and son are not close but after an incident involving The Judge, his car and a former criminal, you guessed it, Hank becomes his fathers defense attorney.

Then there is Sam (Vera Farmiga), Hank's high school sweetheart who has a teenage daughter (Carla Powell). There is silliness in this sidelight to the story. Warner Brothers' films often delve into cliched moments which do the film no justice. The real disappointment, however, is Billy Bob Thornton as Dwight Dickham. It's not Billy's fault, the script fails him miserably. His band of fans who paid their money to watch his work would have hoped for a refund. The Judge is tepid and clunky. 6GUMS