The Writer's Life 9/5 - Typecast

Last night I watched The Judge (2014), courtesy of Netflix. Researching it at IMDb, I was surprised to find it’s not based on a novel, as there are elements that could have been dropped from the screenplay to make the film tighter, considerably shorter than its 141 minute running time. It is essentially an everything but the kitchen sink family saga with a mystery on the side. I sensed it was written more as a vehicle to get actors award nominations. It garnered one, a supporting actor Oscar nod for Robert Duvall in the titular role. He is as solid as ever. The entire cast is. Robert Downey plays his part as a hotshot lawyer as fans would expect. The performances I enjoyed most were from Emma Tremblay, as Downey’s ten-year-old daughter; Billy Bob Thorton as the opposing lawyer, wisely underplaying; and Vera Farmiga, whose naturalness in front of the camera is magical. This is by no means a bad film. It’s heart is in the right place, despite the strained, often ugly exchanges between family members, the dysfunction Hollywood loves. Still, I was not absorbed. Something seemed awry. On a scale of five, I rate it 2.5. 112,000+ users at IMDb disagree, forging to a consensus of 7.5 of ten. The film did not fare well at the box office, falling a little short of covering its 50 million dollar budget. I’m sure the overseas take and DVD and streaming sales have made it a financial winner. David Dobkin directed and had a hand in the screenplay, my first contact with his work, although it was his twelfth stint at the helm. Grace Zabriskie and Vincent D’Onofrio deliver performances one would exactly expect from them. Perhaps that reflects the problem with the film -- it seems typecast. Leighton Meester brings sunshine to the proceedings in a brief role. She, Thorton, Farmiga and Tremblay save the picture. In a continuing trend, there was a veteran actor in a significant role I did not recognize -- Ken Howard, who presided over the key trial.

There was a great bit of fun trivia in MLB last night. David Zych appeared in relief for the Seattle Mariners. He is now last alphabetically on the list of that rare breed who have played in a big league game. He replaces Dutch Zwilling, whose career ended in 1910. Who's on first? Abbott and Costello might ask. That would be another reliever, David Aardsma, who replaced Hank Aaron in 2004.
 
Beautiful weather, fewer sales -- the trend continued today at the floating book shop. My thanks to the woman who bought Lisa Scottoline's Killer Smile, and to whomever purchased A Hitch in Twilight on Kindle.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/