The Late, Great Robert Duvall’s ‘Kinda, Sorta’ Connection to Evansville

We've been losing a lot of great actors lately, and on February 15th, we lost a true titan in the entertainment business. Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall passed away at the age of 95, but not before he left a long list of films that would make for a great movie night.

Robert Duvall

There are the huge, high-profile roles in films like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, both of which earned Duvall Oscar nominations. There's the low-key, but very good Tender Mercies, about a past-his-prime country singer trying to get his life back together. That resulted in Duvall's only Oscar win. The Apostle, Network, Lonesome Dove, and To Kill a Mockingbird are also excellent choices. Duvall famously played Boo Radley in 1962's Mockingbird, one of his earliest roles. He had no dialogue but made an enormous impact.

The Judge

In 2014, Robert Duvall co-starred alongside Robert Downey Jr. in The Judge. In it an attorney, played by Downey, heads back to his southern Indiana hometown for this mother's funeral. The visit gins up new tensions between him and his father, a judge played by Duvall. To make matters worse, Downey's character, Hank, must defend his father who's been charged with murder. The film landed Duvall his seventh and final Oscar nomination.

Where Was The Judge Filmed?

While set in Indiana, The Judge was primarily filmed in Massachusetts. However, during the course of the film, it's mentioned that Hank flies into the Evansville Regional Airport from Chicago. Unfortunately, because Indiana, at the time, had no tax incentives for filmmakers, all Indiana locations were "played" by sites in Massachusetts. As of January 1st, 2026, though, Indiana's film and media tax credit, established in 2022, has been updated, thereby extending its impact and increasing accessibility for Hollywood producers and directors.

I'd kind of like someone to run it back and film that movie again, now the Hoosier State will cut filmmakers a nice break with the incentive. I had never heard Evansville mentioned in a movie before. I'd like to see that come to pass, now.

Of course, I also wish the extraordinary Robert Duvall was still with us and still in his prime, making great movies. We lost one of the best to ever do it, this weekend.