The Judge.

I find it quite strange that on two visits to the cinema within a couple of days, you can see the screening of a film that does nothing to draw you in and to some extent alienates you from it’s narrative. As I inferred in my blog on Gone Girl (2014) it was not as though it was a bad film, just one that I personally could not get engaged in or for that matter one that I did not really enjoy. Now as I say, two days latter I go to the same wee cinema in Dumfries and find a completely different set of cinematic circumstances. The Judge (2014) is every thing that David Fincher’s film was not!

 

The Hot Shot Chicago Lawyer. 

Firstly you have got the story, which has characters you can empathise with and in all honesty, quite like. There’s the successful Chicago hotshot lawyer with a motor mouth, Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr) who helps the guilty beat the system “innocent people can’t afford me” he boasts. When his mother dies he returns to his hometown of Carlinville Indiana, somewhere he has not been for many years. This wee rural town is where his two brothers still live, the older brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his mentally impaired younger brother Dale (Jeremy Strong). But the reason that Hank has not been back is his fraught relationship with his father, local Judge Henry Palmer (Robert Duvall). Hank fully intended to return to his unfinished court case in Chicago right after the funeral but when his fathers car is discovered to have been damaged and blood is found on the vehicle and the body of a man is discovered on the highway - the Judge is suspected of running him down. Hank Palmer wants to stay to defend his father should the case come to court, but there are a lot of bridges to be crossed before this stubborn pair can renew any form of relationship.

 

The matriarchal small town Judge. 

Secondly we have a cast whose acting is first rate. Although admittedly the most riveting scenes are these between Downey Jr and Duvall the rest of the cast are superb. D’Onofrio and Strong are convincing as the brothers with a great performance from the lovely Vera Farmiga as Hanks hometown love interest, we are also treated to a fabulous performance from Billy Bob Thornton as Hanks opposite number in the films thrilling court room sequence’s.

 

The girl who was left behind.

Although David Dobkin is better known for comedies he certainly makes a grand job of helming this drama. The soundtrack was composed by Thomas Newman who has collaborated with Sam Mendes on six occasions including Skyfall (2012) and the new James Bond, Spectre due to be released next year. Its very crisp cinematography is in the very capable hands of the Janusz Kaminski who has previously won Academy Awards for his work on Schindlers List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), and has more recently been DOP on War Horse (2011) and Lincoln (2012).

 

'Hot Shots' opposite number.

Part family drama, part courtroom drama, I found the movie quite emotional and in certain scenes quite heart rendering. It’s both interesting and entertaining with a sly sense of humour. And unlike my previous film this week, it’s nearly two and a half hour running time absolutely flew by.

Crazy Heart

The usual suspects stayed behind at the RBC Film club on Monday evening to discuss, amongst other things, Crazy Heart (2009). Directed by Scott Cooper it’s the story of a broken down alcoholic country and western entertainer who attempts to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young journalist and her four year old son. Cooper initially wanted to do a biopic on Merle Haggard but encountered problems getting the rights to the story. Instead he adapted the 1987 novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb, allegedly based on the life story of Hank Thomson an American country star whose career spanned seven decades and who sold 60 million records worldwide. 60 year-old Jeff Bridges plays 56 year-old, four times married, Bad Blake, a man with a 28 year-old son whom he has not seen since the lad was four. Other than the occasionally poorly paid gig his current life consists of whisky and a string of one-night stands with his middle-aged fan base. The director built the film around Bridges and was justly rewarded for his efforts with the star turning in a magnificent performance that’s totally convincing. The movie also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jean Craddock, Blake’s reason for living. Robert Duvall is a Houston bar owner and Bad Blake’s confident and great friend. Colin Farrell plays Blake’s former protégé, Tommy Sweet, the current toast of Nashville. With music being a very important part of the narrative T-Bone Burnett, who has contributed musically to many films including producing the original music for O Brother Where Art Thou (2000) and Walk the Line (2005)’ shared the Academy Award with Ryan Bingham for the Best Original Song The Weary Kind. With a conventional plot and fairly obvious ending this back to basics film is arguable The Wrestler to music but as Philip French summed up in his recent critique ‘the movie had dramatic fibre and a sense of lived in experience’ quite right Philip.