“The Judge” is not to be missed in this cast, writes JP Devine

Unexpectedly, on Netflix I found a film from 10 years ago, which was not shining properly at that time, directed by David Dobkin, who gave us a bright sky – “Wedding Crashers” 2005.

Dobkin is back on Netflix with “The Judge” starring Robert Downey Jr. as the cynical, brilliant, but emotionally troubled Chicago trial lawyer Hank Palmer, who is currently divorcing his cheating wife (Sarah Lancaster). He returns to the small town of Carlinville, Indiana, his childhood, to attend his mother’s funeral, which has always been a place of confusion.

The big surprise is the performance of his co-star Robert Duvall, who was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as Hank’s father, a tough but beloved local judge who, in the middle of a funeral, is arrested and tried for a driving accident under the influence of alcohol on a rainy night in which a local brawler died.

Returning home at the beginning of these tragic moments, Hank joins his older brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio), who once had a promising baseball career that was cut short by a car accident involving Hank, who, can you believe it, was placed in juvenile detention by his judge father.

Jeremy Strong has some touching moments as the judge’s autistic youngest son. He’s worth more.

What do you think Arthur Miller could have done with such a family?

So a judge shows up, accused and put on trial for killing a local man on a rainy night under the “influence of” what? The alcohol, the strong drugs he was taking, huh?

A bumbling local lawyer (Dax Shepard), six months out of night law school, is assigned to the biggest case in town and, of course, throws up every day before showing up.

Finally, after a lot of paperwork, what we knew was coming… is coming.

Hank is assigned as Dad’s lawyer. We understand Downey’s reason for taking on the role – a Chicago lawyer returning to his hometown as Clarence Darrow. Well, not that great, but it’s always a good moment when Downey gets the spotlight.

It is not the end. The judge has secrets that fill the old courtroom just in time.

This won’t be the end either. Another death in the family, as Arthur Miller would show us, brings tears.

“The Judge” is full of small but irritating coincidences, like flies on a pretty cake, but there are also performances by Duvall, Downey and, charmingly, Vera Farmiga, who seems to be getting old as Samantha Powell, Hank’s ex-girlfriend and local diner owner. , as they say, gracefully.

D’Onofrio, always waiting for his great return, as always fills the dark corners, pleasing us.

A quiet lawyer with an evil face (of course) and a big name (Billy Bob Thornton) has a few moments with a few lines before becoming a bigger, darker man.

Dobkin must have been a pleasure working with this cast. But then how can you miss out with a cast like this?

I liked the movie. But then how could I miss out with a cast like this?

“The Judge” is available on Netflix.

JP Devine of Waterville is a former stage and film actor.

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