Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family.
Director: David Dobkin
Writers: Nick Schenk (screenplay), Bill Dubuque (screenplay),
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga
In "The Judge," Robert Downey Jr. stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge (Robert Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before. -- (C) Warner Bros.
The Judge is a 2014 American drama film directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dax Shepard, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Lancaster, and Billy Bob Thornton. The film was released in the United States on October 10, 2014. It received mixed reviews, with critics praising the performances of Downey and Duvall, but criticizing the formulaic nature of its script and the lack of development for its supporting characters.
Plot[spoiler alert]
Hank Palmer is one of the best defense attorneys in Chicago. In the courtroom, Hank gets a phone call from his brother telling him that their mother died. Hank requests that the trial be suspended until he can return. He leaves for Carlinville, Indiana for his mother's funeral. Hank pays his respects at the funeral home viewing, where he meets with his brothers Dale and Glen. Hank then goes to watch his dad, Judge Joseph Palmer, in the courtroom. At the end of the case, Judge Palmer struggles to remember Bailiff Gus' name. The next morning, the Palmers leave to get breakfast without telling Hank. After showing up late, Hank sees that his high school girlfriend, Samantha, works at the diner.
At the funeral, Joseph is warm and friendly to everyone except Hank. That night, the Palmer boys go to a local bar, as Joseph goes to the convenience store. At the bar, locals bad talk Joseph because of their bad experiences in his courtroom. Glen is about to fight them when Hank steps in. The bartender, Carla, is impressed with Hank, and makes out with him later that night. When the brothers get home, they see that their father damaged the front of his car. The next morning Joseph yells at them for taking his car out. The police show up and question Joseph about his whereabouts the night before, as there's been a hit and run.
Joseph goes in for questioning, but Hank stops things. Joseph insists there was no harm in talking to the police because he didn't do anything wrong. Both Joseph and Blackwell, the man who was run down, were seen at the convenience store the night before. Joseph says he went a different way home than where Blackwell's body was found. Blackwell was a kid Joseph prosecuted. After Blackwell did minimal time, he murdered his girlfriend. He had just gotten out of jail. Hank finds out Dwight Dickham is going to be handling the prosecution. Dickham has a reputation, so Hank sticks around to help. Hank rides his old bike around town before wiping out. Samantha picks him up, only to reveal that Carla is her daughter. Carla and Hank don't tell Samantha about what happened between them.
A security tape shows that Joseph lied about his trip home as his timeline doesn't match up. Hank asks Dale about their father's condition. Dale says that he's fine and plays chess with Doc Morris every week. Hank remembers his dad doesn't play chess. Hank meets with Morris and finds out that his dad has been receiving chemotherapy for cancer, even though it was caught too late. Side effects of the treatment include memory loss. Hank confronts his dad about the chemo and says he wants to use it in court. Joseph refuses. Hank's daughter comes to visit from Chicago. Hank warns her that his father is mean and she shouldn't take it personally. To Hank's surprise, his dad is delightful to Lauren. That night, Hank and Lauren hang out and hear a noise from Joseph's room. Hank goes to investigate and sees that his dad is struggling to walk and has soiled himself. Hank takes him into the bathroom and helps him in the shower to clean off.
While trapped inside during a tornado, Joseph says he was hard on Hank, but points out that because of that, Hank turned out successful. Hank says he turned out fine on his own. Joseph reminds him that he's the one who paid for Hank to go to law school and become a lawyer, and this was his first visit to Carlinville since Hank left home at 18. Hank takes his daughter to the airport and notices that she has similar mannerisms as Carla. When he gets home, he checks the date of his homecoming and realizes that Carla was born nine months after the last night he spent with Samantha.
Dickham jogs Joseph's memory and we find out that on the night Blackwell died, they were both at the convenience store. When Blackwell saw Joseph, the Judge told him that since his wife was buried in the same cemetery as the girl Blackwell killed years ago, he can piss on both their graves. Hank questions him, exposing that Joseph was initially easy on Blackwell because when Blackwell was a child, Joseph saw that he was no different to Hank, a boy who screwed up from time to time. Hank brings up the chemo, which surprises everyone. It infuriates his father, who tells Hank that after the trial they're done forever.
Joseph admits to memory loss. He still can't remember Gus' name even though Gus has been his Bailiff for over 20 years. Dickham cross examines; Joseph absolutey does not remember killing Blackwell. Joseph says that while he doesn't remember killing Blackwell, he's glad he's dead. Hank asks Samantha if Carla is his daughter. She says that she's Glen's. Samantha was mad that Hank ditched her, so she hooked up with his brother out of spite. Glen doesn't know. The jury comes back with a not guilty verdict to murder, but guilty to manslaughter. Joseph is sentenced to four years in prison. Seven months later, Joseph is released from prison. He tells Hank that the reason he was hard on him for so many years was because, while he saw Hank in Blackwell, he also saw Blackwell in Hank. Joseph tells Hank he's the best lawyer he's ever seen. Joseph passes away. After Joseph's funeral, Hank goes to the courtroom where his dad sat for so many years.
