Highly watchable, and with an A-list cast and production values to match, this tale of an estranged father and son coming together through a courtroom drama is undermined by moments of cuteness and nostalgia – the plot always reaching for the perfect way to close every scene and tidy up every character's story arc. But with Robert Duvall and Robert Downey jnr in charismatic form – especially in some of their toughest scenes – it's a fault that's easy to forgive.

Downey jnr plays Hank Palmer, a smart-arse Chicago lawyer with a failed marriage and a reputation for keeping guilty people out of jail. Estranged from his father, Joseph (Duvall), he returns home to small-town Indiana when his mother dies, intent on getting back to the city as quickly as possible. But when his father – who has been the local judge for 42 years – is involved in a hit-and-run car accident, Hank has little option but to stay and help out, even if his dad – known to all as "Judge" – seems determined to shun all assistance offered. To add more emotional spice to the plot, Hank runs into former girlfriend Samantha (Vera Farmiga), and has family history to sort out with his two brothers, Glen (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Dale (Jeremy Strong). As the courtroom drama pumps away – with Billy Bob Thornton in great form as Dwight Dickham, the prosecutor – we slowly learn the various backstories that led to Hank leaving town all those years ago.

Directed with total professionalism by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights), the frequently overripe writing from Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque often drags proceedings into melodrama and nostalgia. Fortunately, Duvall and Downey jnr demand your constant attention, sometimes with individual magnetic power but, in the film's best scenes, with the chemistry they find as confrontational and unforgiving characters forced to concede their love for each other. D'Onofrio adds a quietly powerful force to the story as the loyal older brother who's never left town nor said a bad word against Hank, despite having good reason to hold a grudge. With a little less deliberate tidiness – and a tighter running time – this could have been an extraordinary film. But the great cast make it worth the watch.