10 years after its release, a forgotten Robert Downey Jr. movie is climbing the Netflix charts

All rise for The Judge, now on Netflix

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The Judge, a 10-year-old legal drama starring Robert Downey Jr., is racing up the Netflix charts since it arrived on the US version of the streamer last week.

The movie has been viewed more than 5.3 million times and it’s currently the third most popular movie on Netflix, behind Shrek and Jerry Seinfeld’s Pop-Tart comedyUnfrosted.

Downey Jr. stars as Chicago lawyer Hank Palmer who returns to his hometown after his mother’s death. While he’s there, his estranged father (Robert Duvall), who’s also the town’s judge, is suspected of murder, and Hank sets out to discover the truth. The film’s cast also includes Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Vera Farmiga, and Billy Bob Thornton.

The movie was directed by David Dobkin, in a somewhat surprising career move. The filmmaker’s other works includeWedding Crashers, the 2005 comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, andEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Netflix’s 2020 comedy in which Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams play Iceland’s representatives at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Judge was divisive when it was released back in 2014 – although Duvall received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for his performance, the movie only holds a critics' score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Total Film verdict being “manipulative middlebrow awards bait without the substance to land any prizes.”

The Observeraccused the film of “sentimental silliness and courtroom cliches”, whileRolling Stonesaid it was an “overstuffed, overlong slog”. However, critics seem to agree on the strength of the acting, withTime Outpraising Downey Jr.’s “charismatic performance” andThe Hollywood Reporternoting that “even when the circumstances seem contrived, the actors mine moments of truth that resonate with raw emotion.”

The Judge is streaming now on Netflix US. For more, check out our picks of the otherbest Netflix moviesto fill out your watch list.

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I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.

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