DVD Review: Your Honor

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Since 1980, Bryan Cranston had been one of those actors who continually popped up in shows and movies in small parts. He played two different characters on Matlock. He was on CHiPs, Airwolf, Hill Street Blues, Baywatch and Jake and the Fatman. His most memorable guest role was as Jerry’s dentist on Seinfeld. He popped up in the Festivus episode “The Strike.” Things got clicking as the dad on Malcolm in the Middle, but the kids were the real stars of the show. But after nearly 30 years of toiling in supporting and guest roles, Cranston exploded on Breaking Bad. He was winning Emmys, grabbing ratings gold and becoming iconic as the meth making Walter White. When the show wrapped up, Cranston was no longer hustling for bit parts. He had becoming a star. He was making movies and doing plays as the name above the title and not buried in the end credits. He was making movies with Godzilla. He didn’t forget about television except can’t be tied down making a series for 20 years. He returned to the HDTV in a limited series on Showtime. Your Honor is a 10 part show that has him once more rubbing shoulders with underworld figures except this time he’s wearing a robe.

Michael Desiato (Cranston) is a judge in New Orleans who understands that the system destroys people. During his case against a woman, he won’t let a police office railroad her to prison because he realizes what will happen to her family if she’s sent away on rather shaky evidence. His son Adam (Hunter Doohan) gets into a serious problem. He drives his junky car into the 9th Ward to visit the spot where his mother died. It’s the anniversary. Except on the way home, things go wrong and he ends up hitting and killing a kid. In the midst of his emotional chaos and an asthma attack, Adam flees the scene. The Judge at first wants his son to confess to the incident and suffer the consequences. But the Father Know Best attitude quickly vanishes when it turns out the dead kid is the son of Jimmy Baxter (A Serious Man‘s Michael Stuhlbarg). He’s a major mobster in New Orleans. The Judge knows that no matter what the justice system does to Adam, Baxter will have his kid murdered to avenge the death of his son. The Judge has to do his best to cover up Adam’s involvement to save his son’s life.

Bryan Cranston works well in the role of the judge who understands the need for rules and is also well aware that things can get ugly quick if the truth comes out. Likewise Stuhlbarg gives off the energy necessary for a father who wants to inflict the pain he feels onto the person who took his son’s life. Over the course of the ten episodes, you feel quite a bit for both men and fear what will happen when they finally meet with the truth exposed.

There’s also a fine supporting cast that includes Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Wire), Hope Davis (American Splendor), Chet Hanks (Shameless) and Maura Tierney (NewsRadio). The biggest member of the supporting cast is New Orleans which adds so much texture to this tale. The show makes the city seem more dangerous than the tourism board wants you to perceive.

The best part of Your Honor on DVD is that you will pretty much be glued to the TV set devouring all 10 episodes in a row. Although you can take snack breaks between changing discs. Cranston delivers another compelling father character that’s caught up in more trouble that he deserves.

The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The film is shot so you get a lot of details of the Crescent City. Things look sharp. There is also a Blu-ray boxset of the show in case you want to see even more details. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1so you’ll also get to hear a bit of the seedy side of town all around your family room. The episodes are subtitled.

Deleted Scenes (5:31) on episode 6 includes a kitchen scene and a bar scene involving Baxter.

CBS DVD & Showtime present Your Honor. Starring Bryan Cranston, Hunter Doohan, Hope Davis, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Michael Stuhlbarg & Carmen Ejogo. Boxset Contents: 10 episodes on 3 DVDs. Release Date: June 15, 2021.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.