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The Judge

Vera Farmiga @ 2010 Academy Awards crop.jpg

I saw "The Judge" recently. A decent movie, though it didn't blow me away.

Robert Downey Jr plays Hank Palmer, the sort of city-slicker defense lawyer Hollywood loves, because he is both glamorous and sleazy, so there's plenty of room for tragedy and personal growth.

Robert Duvall plays his father, a small town judge who gets into trouble soon after his wife passes away, and who desperately requires the service of a good, even if sleazy, defense lawyer. That's the set up.

The leading lady is Vera Farmiga, whose character, Samantha Powell, was the high school girlfriend of Hank Palmer. Of course they went their separate ways. Hank went to law school and a big city practice. Samantha stayed in the rural town they grew up in.

One of the subplots of the story involves whether Samantha's daughter is Hank's child. I'm trying to be good and avoid spoilers here, so I'll say no more.

As you may already have gathered, the plot is a bit formulaic, the characters of stereotypes. Still, the acting talent is impressive and some of you may enjoy this.

The above photograph is of Farmiga at the Oscars in 2010. She was nominated that year for her performance opposite George Clooney in UP IN THE AIR.  She was lusty businesswoman Alex Goran.

I trust we'll all see more of her.

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