Posts tagged Dax Shepard
The Judge “Family Courtroom Drama”
Oct 22nd
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE JUDGE is a terrific film about a family and what happens to them in a courtroom during a murder trial.
Robert Downey, Jr., stars as Hank Palmer, a successful attorney in Chicago, and Robert Duvall stars as Joe Palmer, Hank’s father, who has been a judge in a small town in Indiana for 42 years.
Hank has a reputation that is not entirely favorable, and when asked why many of his clients seem to be guilty, he says, “Innocent people can’t afford me.”
Hank and Joe are estranged and barely talk to one another, and the movie begins when Hank returns to his hometown in Indiana to attend his mother’s funeral.
However, while Hank is there, Joe is involved in an automobile accident late at night with a man on a bicycle who is killed.
The evidence seems to indicate that the accident was intentional, and because Joe and the man on the bicycle had a history from a previous trial, the judge is charged with murder.
Joe hires a local attorney to defend him, who is played by Dax Shepard, but because he turns out to be both out of his league and in over his head, Hank reluctantly agrees to help out over the objections of Joe.
However, the story is not all courtroom drama; Vera Farmiga plays Hank’s high-school sweetheart, a single mom with a daughter that Hank might have had something to do with before he left town, and Vincent D’Onofrio and Jeremy Strong play Hank’s brothers, and there is something in their past, too, that enters into the story.
In addition, Hank has a wife and daughter back in Chicago who require some attention during the trial, and Joe has a secret that he is not telling anybody. Hank’s reputation isn’t helping his cause, either, especially when he is known as a bully with a big bag of tricks, and he says that his father is the most brutally difficult client he has ever had.
Now, you might believe from the publicity that the movie consists only of Hank and Joe being at each other’s throats and arguing with each other, but there are also some tender and touching scenes in the movie, as well.
THE JUDGE is a tremendous family courtroom drama that is sure to receive some Academy Award nominations.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Judge – Movie Trailer
Oct 20th
In “The Judge,” Robert Downey Jr. stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town’s judge (Robert Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.
This Is Where I Leave You “And Stay with You Forever”
Sep 29th
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU is a very funny movie with a very unfortunate title, but with a very good ensemble cast about a family who all get back together for a week in order to honor their father’s wishes when he dies.
Jason Bateman plays Judd Altman, and the movie begins when he comes home early from work and finds his wife in bed with his boss having sex.
Tina Fey plays Wendy Altman, Judd’s sister, and she calls Judd while he is still trying to process the new development in his life to tell Judd that their father died, and a dying wish of his was that the whole Altman family return home to sit shiva and mourn his death for seven days even though he wasn’t a practicing Jew.
Jane Fonda plays Hillary Altman, the mother who is a child psychotherapist with a very successful book that contains more information about her children than they cared to share, but she tells them, “Secrets are cancer to a family.”
Adam Driver plays Phillip Altman, the baby of the family, and although he has fancy possessions he is still regarded as worthless, and he shows up with his much older, richer girlfriend, who is a psychotherapist.
Corey Stoll plays Paul Altman, the oldest of the children, who stayed in town to help his father run the family sporting goods store, who is married to Alice, one of Judd’s old girlfriends and who badly wants a baby, but she and Paul are still childless.
And then there are other assorted family members and children, as well as another old girlfriend of Judd’s, Penny, played by Rose Byrne, who not only still lives in town but who also still has longings for Judd.
The family sits on the couch in the living room to receive neighbors and friends who come by to pay their respects, but when they can’t take the bickering anymore or the infighting among them, some sneak out of the house as often as possible.
Also, unexpected people show up unannounced which adds to the discomfort of the family, but delight to the audience, and some scenes are downright hilarious.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will think your pants will never dry.
THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU will stay with you forever.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
