The Judge

First Hit:  A very good film and it could have been better.

Having Robert Downey Jr. (as Hank Palmer) and Robert Duvall (as his father Joseph) in the same film can only spell amazing possibilities.

Estranged son Hank is a defense attorney who seems to always get his man freed. He knows the law, how to pick a jury and how to exploit them both to keep his high-end, high ticket clients out of jail. Joseph is a 42 year sitting on the bench judge in the same small town where Hank was raised.

Hank was a difficult child and Joseph felt it important to be a tough, no-nonsense, father. What brings them together in this story is the death of Hank’s mom, Joseph’s wife. The difficulty between the two men is quickly set forth when he sees his father for the first time and Dad simply greets him with a handshake.

On the night after the funeral, Joseph is accused of killing a former criminal by hitting him with his car and leaving the scene of the accident. Of course Hank tries to be his dad’s defense lawyer and there is where the story of reconciliation takes place. Both of these actors have a depth that wasn’t fully mined in the script.

The stubbornness and rigidness that Duvall can bring and the quick witted intelligent banter that Downey is known for was only partially displayed. One the other side of the story the scene of father and son in the bathroom while Hank’s daughter Lauren (Emma Tremblay) knocked on the door to be let in was beautifully executed.

Downey was the perfect person for the part and with a stronger script, more could have been made of his history. Duvall was the perfect person for the part of father and judge. Tremblay was great as Downey’s daughter. Vera Farmiga was divine as Hanks old high school girlfriend Samantha. Billy Bob Thornton as the prosecuting attorney was wonderful. Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque wrote this engaging but not deep enough script. David Dobkin directed this film and made good use of Duvall and Downey but there was more available to make this film great.

Overall:  I laughed, was touched, and found the story intriguing but it was not quite all it could be.

Elysium

First Hit:  Well-crafted film about the future while keeping humanness as part of the story.

The future is clear, there are the haves and have nots.

The haves do not live on Earth any longer. They live on a spinning wheel space station just out of the atmosphere called Elysium. It can be seen from Earth. On this space station people do not get diseased and if they do, their machines make them well.

On Earth there is overcrowding, theft, crime, and denigration of humans and their spirit. Max (Played by Matt Damon) has been a thief, imprisoned, and now just is trying to get by. When he makes a joke to one of the robot policemen, he gets beat. His childhood friend, Frey (Alice Braga) is a nurse and was serving on Elysium but had to come back to Earth because her daughter Matilda (Emma Tremblay) had leukemia and wasn't a citizen.

Not being a citizen (meaning someone with an embedded code in their arm) means that you don't really exist to the people of Elysium. Frey and Max meet up again and she wants him to help her daughter to Elysium to get healed and he wants to get there because he just got a lethal dose of radiation and will die in 5 days.

Of course the heads of Elysium, especially Secretary of State Delacourt (Jodie Foster) who has eyes for more power, don’t want their world contaminated so no non-citizen gets to the space station.

This film explores, where are we going as a human race and what will we do to create equality among people. It explores the question of what will become of us in the year 2154.

Damon is, as he always is, sublime. He makes his role so real and effortless that you can’t help but be on his side and believe his rightness. Braga is great as his longtime friend. She brings such humanness to this film as does her daughter Tremblay. Foster is powerful and spot-on as the politico who wants control and to politically move up the ladder to President. Neill Blomkamp both directed and wrote this story. His extraordinary use of special effects on space vehicles and landscapes were well thought out and implemented.

Overall:  Although this film is well done, it may not do well at the box office because it just may be too smooth and the name doesn't help it.