A Decade-Old Robert Downey Jr. Drama Is Flying High On Netflix Right Now

After a decade and change playing superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sandbox, Robert Downey Jr. wants to remind everyone there's more to him than Tony Stark. In the years since permanently (?) retiring his MCU alter ego in "Avengers: Endgame," the actor has lined up an ambitious slate of projects. (Like everyone else, we're pretending "Dolittle" didn't happen.) Between getting an Oscar for his supporting role in Christopher Nolan's Best Picture-winning "Oppenheimer" and pulling a Peter Sellers by tackling multiple colorful characters in Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar's "The Sympathizer" miniseries, it's fair to say RDJ the character actor is officially back.

As chance would have it, we're now 10 years removed from the last time Downey tried (but failed) to renew his acting bonafides with "The Judge." Directed by David Dobkin, the 2014 drama stars Downey as Hank Palmer, a big-shot lawyer from Chicago who returns to his podunk hometown in Indiana to attend his mother's funeral. While there, Hank is reunited with his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a highly respected judge who soon becomes the chief suspect in a hit-and-run involving an ex-convict whom he had once let off with a lighter sentence. "The Judge" was neither the critical nor financial hit that Warner Bros. was hoping for, although it did land Duvall an Oscar nod. Now, it's joined other forgotten A-lister vehicles like "The Little Things" in gaining a second wind thanks to Netflix.  

According to streaming data aggregator FlixPatrol, "The Judge" was the second most-streamed movie on Netflix in the U.S. on, May 2, 2024, only to climb to number one a day later. It stayed there until May 5, although it's still hanging onto the number two spot as of May 6. Has buzz around "The Sympathizer" reignited interest in the film (coupled with RDJ's Oscar win earlier this year)? Or are users flocking to it because they missed it the first time around 10 years ago? I suspect it's a bit of both.

Much as I would love to tell you "The Judge" is an underrated gem that deserves a reappraisal, I'm not sure I can. It's clearly a personal film for Downey. Like the actor, Hank has a troubled past, and there's no missing the parallels between his relationship with his father and RDJ's with his own dad (as covered in the acclaimed documentary "Sr."). The problem is the script credited to Bill Dubuque ("The Accountant") and Nick Schenk ("Gran Torino") drowns the film's father-son story in mawkish subplots involving Hank's ex-girlfriend (Vera Farmiga) and family. A pre-"Succession" Jeremy Strong even shows up as Hank's intellectually disabled brother and, woof, it's not a great look. It doesn't help that Dobkin, who specializes more in broad comedies like "Wedding Crashers" and "European Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga," also tends to slather on the melodrama with his directorial choices, which undercuts his cast's efforts to play things more naturally. Even the cinematography by Janusz Kamiński, who uses many of the same techniques here as he does to great effect in his work with Steven Spielberg, only further gives the film the sheen of being a faux awards contender.

But maybe I'm being cynical, and "The Judge" plays better now than it did in 2014. Stream it on Netflix and decide for yourself.