Blimey. It’s been so long since Robert Downey Jr. took up residence inside Tony Stark’s iron suit, we’d sort of forgotten that his acting chops extend farther than smarmy quips. Marvel might have decked him out with a fleet of yachts, but Warner Bros. snared him for their father-son drama, The Judge.
From director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, The Change-Up), the movie follows the somewhat sickly story of an estranged family. Downey Jr. plays a lawyer who returns to his hometown to attend his mother’s funeral. When he arrives at his childhood home, his Alzheimer’s-stricken father (Robert Duvall) is on a bit of a sticky wicket. He’s been charged with murder.
Going on the above pic, it’s likely to be your standard familial reconciliation drama. Word out of TIFF wasn’t outstanding, but it’s already bagged a 7.9 on IMDB. With a second trailer having been released today, it seemingly confirms the above suspicion. Sure, Duvall and Downey Jr. are exceptional actors, and both have a propensity for giving it their all without resorting to shouting and histrionic acting, but there’s still a heavy handed sprinkling of sugar atop this preview.
Rounding out the cast are Vera Farmiga, Leighton Meester, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dax Shepherd, David Krumholtz and Balthazar Getty.
The Judge opens on October 10th. Check out the plot synopsis and trailer below and let us know what you think.
“In “The Judge,” Downey stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town’s judge (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.”
