A case of bad judgement

HANK Palmer is smug, successful and saddled with the same sense of self-satisfied entitlement that usually accompanies someone who is about to take a fall. The Judge, a slow moving drama about family dysfunction, painful truths and recalibrating relationships, shows early promise but the good intentions soon evaporate and the film meanders its way to a disappointing conclusion.

Hank (Robert Downey Jr) is a hotshot Chicago lawyer who defends guilty people for a living. He's good at his job - there's a fancy house and a classic Ferrari in the driveway to prove it - but lousy at relationships. His marriage is over and he's estranged from his dad, a slightly cranky small-town judge with a short fuse and old-fashioned ideas.

Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) disapproves of Hank's apparent lack of integrity and the ease with which he gets his shady clients off the hook - this is not his idea of justice. When Hank's mother dies, he reluctantly returns home for the funeral - and comes face to face with the past.