Rotten Tomatoes Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Judge

Play trailer 2:14 Poster for The Judge R 2014 2h 21m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
49% Tomatometer 197 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.), a brilliant but shady attorney, returns to his Indiana hometown after learning that his mother has passed away. His arrival triggers renewed tension between himself and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), who makes no secret of his disapproval of Hank's morally ambiguous career. As the lawyer prepares to depart, his father is arrested for a hit-and-run death. Hank takes on his father's defense, despite the objections of the resentful old man.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Judge

The Judge

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Solidly cast and beautifully filmed but thoroughly clichéd, The Judge seems destined to preside over a large jurisdiction of the basic cable afternoon-viewing circuit.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Donald Clarke Irish Times 10/20/2014
2/5
Objection! Meretricious sentimentality! Objection! Badgering the audience! Where is this leading, your honour? Go to Full Review Mark Kermode Observer (UK) 10/19/2014
3/5
As the verdict draws closer, the sentimental silliness and courtroom cliches pile up ... Go to Full Review Kate Muir The Times (UK) 10/17/2014
2/5
Unfortunately, when Downey is not centre-stage the drama becomes leaden, sentimental and utterly improbable. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Feb 24
2/4
It's packed with so much empty incident and superfluous drama that, when it’s over, you’ll swear you just watched a television miniseries over three nights rather than a theatrical release in one sitting. Go to Full Review Ankit Ojha Cinema Elite 07/09/2024
3.5/5
[...] as predictable as it sounds, “The Judge” is anything but that. The film might be a family drama, but it’s refreshingly adult [...] and filled with surprising emotional honesty. Go to Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 07/18/2022
2.5/4
The familiarity of the story hurts what is Dobkin's otherwise pleasantly sincere and straightforward direction, and a number of fine performances. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Will E @RT05307754 Aug 18 One of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. The way they emotional draw you into the relationship between father son. And how that relationship turns from one end of the spectrum to the other. See more Chris B @Papa13070 Jun 1 This is a very powerful movie that uses the circumstances of a young successful lawyer's alienation from his father as the foundation to tell a powerful story about family life and struggles, parental alienation, small town life and more. Robert Downey Jr. Plays the big city lawyer that comes to his home town, after the death of his mother, to then be dragged into representing his father in defense of a manslaughter case. The performance by Robert Duvall is among his best. Downey Jr., Vincent D'onofrio, Billy Bob Thornton, and Vera Farmiga are incredibly good. Great music by Thomas Newman. See more Shon O @RT99190986 May 22 זה סרט טוב שחקנים מעולים ומשחקים טוב ואני לא יודע למה נתנו לזה ציון כלכך נמוך.לדעתי שווה מאוד את זמנכם לצפייה.עכשיו. See more bob C @RT46426964 May 5 Great weepie movie with exceptional Hollywood ending involving redemption. Plenty of it. See more Danny L @Dman2 Feb 16 This is a fantastic movie. A Duvall classic. I really don’t understand the bad reviews. See more Susan W @Soosie Feb 14 Allowing children to take centre stage even for ten minutes is a no no, for me. The film had a good premise and of course a first class cast. But lacked in originality, predictable marriage break up with old school flame romance reignited coupled with attention seeking offspring, all so done before. See more Read all reviews
The Judge

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

David Dobkin

Director

Robert Downey Jr.

Hank Palmer

Robert Duvall

Judge Joseph Palmer

Vera Farmiga

Samantha Powell

Billy Bob Thornton

Dwight Dickham

Vincent D'Onofrio

Glen Palmer

More Like This

View All
The Confession 40% 34% The Confession Watchlist Manchester by the Sea 96% 78% Manchester by the Sea Watchlist TRAILER for Manchester by the Sea The Best Thief in the World 40% 20% The Best Thief in the World Watchlist Fruitvale Station 94% 87% Fruitvale Station Watchlist TRAILER for Fruitvale Station Beautiful Boy 71% 56% Beautiful Boy Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

The Judge

The Judge: Trailer 1 The Judge: Trailer 1 2:14 Now Playing View more videos
View All

The Judge

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.), a brilliant but shady attorney, returns to his Indiana hometown after learning that his mother has passed away. His arrival triggers renewed tension between himself and his father, Judge Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), who makes no secret of his disapproval of Hank's morally ambiguous career. As the lawyer prepares to depart, his father is arrested for a hit-and-run death. Hank takes on his father's defense, despite the objections of the resentful old man.
Director
David Dobkin
Producer
Susan Downey, David Dobkin, David Gambino
Screenwriter
Nick Schenk, Bill Dubuque
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Big Kid Pictures, Team Downey
Rating
R (Some Sexual References|Language)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 5, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.7M
Runtime
2h 21m
Sound Mix
Datasat, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings