The Judge (2014)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor    As a character drama, this is one of the better ones this year.  Sometimes I forget that Robert Downey, Jr. isn't really Iron Man.  Movies like this help me remember that he is equally good at being snarky in a courtroom as he is on a battlefield.

Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a high-powered criminal defense attorney in Chicago in the middle of a case when he receives word that his mother has died.  He immediately returns to his hometown for her funeral, despite the fact that he and his father, Judge Joe Palmer (Robert Duvall) have been estranged for many years.  While he is visiting, however, his father is arrested and charged with murder over a hit and run involving a man the judge had previously sentenced.  Hank takes his father on as a client and the two are forced to confront the bad blood between them.

Robert Duvall is excellent in this but Robert Downey, Jr. steals the scene every time he is on screen.  Vincent D'onofrio,Vera Farmiga, and Dax Shepard also have good supporting turns but this is definitely the Robert and Robert Jr. show.  In fact, were it not for a paternity sub-plot in the middle of the film, this would almost be too heavy, thanks to the emotional depth both actors bring to their roles.  It does make the film feel a little uneven tonally but that might just be me.  It's enough to keep me from buying it but it's definitely worth a rental.