MOVIE MURDER MOST FOUL: Movie Reviews of The Judge and The Blue Room by Howard Casner

Posted: October 20, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Balthazar Getty, Billy Bob Thornton, David Dobkin, David Kromholtz, Dax Shephard, Georges Simenon, Jeremy Strong, Jr., Lea Drucker, Mathieu Almaric, Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque, Robert Downey, Robert Duvall, Stephanie Cleau, The Blue Room, The Judge, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio | Leave a comment »

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Warning: SPOILERS

How can I cliché thee? Let me count the ways.

In the opening scene of The Judge, the new courtroom cum father/son we hate each other so much we love each other drama, defense attorney Hank Palmer (the kind of attorney who’ll defend anybody for anything as long as the price is right) is confronted by the prosecuting attorney Mike Kattan (the type of character that believes in truth, justice and the American way, so the filmmakers chose an actor, David Kromholtz, whose mere appearance would elicit laughter, to play the part next to the Ironman, alpha male, washboard stomach Robert Downey, Jr., who plays Hank) and they have one of those scene thingies where they debate the morality of it all.

At the end of the discussion (accompanied by mature goings on like Hank peeing on Mike’s pants), Hank sums up all the clichés that have taken place in that one encounter (and using the word “cliché” to describe it).

If the writers, Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque, were attempting to get away with the use of overdone platitudes, familiar formula and trite tropes by calling attention to what they were doing—well, okay, in their defense one can at least one can say they knew what they were doing when they were doing it and were trying to do something about it. Read the rest of this entry »

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