DEFEND YOUR HONOR.
Chicago lawyer Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.) comes home to the Indiana small town where he was raised to bury his mother; when his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a renowned judge, then stands accused of murder, he takes the case. A change of pace for comedy director David Dobkin, a drama that provides great showcases for its two stars who are grandly entertaining (and in Duvall’s case a bit touching) as a father and son with many issues between them that remain stubbornly unresolved. Maintains one’s interest throughout, but the writing is too superficial to fully sustain a movie with that running time.
2014-U.S. 141 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by David Dobkin. Cast: Robert Downey, Jr. (Henry “Hank” Palmer), Robert Duvall (Joseph Palmer), Vera Farmiga (Samantha Powell), Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong… Dax Shepard.
Trivia: Jack Nicholson and Tommy Lee Jones were allegedly considered for Duvall’s part.
Quote: “This family’s a fucking Picasso painting.” (Downey, Jr.)
