Rating: 4/5
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 141 mins

THE law is an ass and the people who administer it bigger asses in David Dobkin’s courtroom drama about an estranged family reunited under the testing conditions of a murder trial. The Judge takes its sweet time going through the legal motions, grafting on a superfluous romantic subplot to the revelations in the dock.

Thankfully, lead actors Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall sink their teeth into their broadly sketched characters and energise the dysfunctional father-son relationship that provides the film with its conflict and heart-tugging emotion.

Both men relish the verbal sparring, galvanized by screen chemistry that convinces us they are chips from the same unmovable block.

The lead role of a smarmy big city lawyer is a snug fit for Downey Jr. He’s a wise-cracking slick operator, yet beneath the impeccably tailored suits and designer shades, there beats the fragile heart of a man terrified of losing the people he loves.

The legal eagle in question is Hank Palmer (Downey Jr), who helps his wealthy clients to escape the State of Illinois’ prosecutorial clutches. During one trial, Hank learns that his mother has passed away. He ventures back to his hometown and tentatively rebuilds bridges with his two brothers, Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Dale (Jeremy Strong), and father Joseph (Robert Duvall), who has been the community’s venerable judge for 42 years.

As Hank prepares to fly back to Chicago, Joseph is arrested for killing a scoundrel who passed through his court. Special prosecutor Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) is drafted in to secure a conviction and Joseph chooses local defender CP Kennedy (Dax Shepard) rather than his son to represent him.

The Judge plays out the role reversal of parents and children as caregivers in the surroundings of a wood-panelled courtroom. Downey Jr and Duvall are both excellent and D’Onofrio and Strong offer sterling support as siblings in crisis.