Toronto Film Festival opens with Robert Downey Jr movie

Robert Downey Jr drama The Judge has opened the 39th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, BBC News reports.

The actor took to the red carpet along with co-stars including Robert Duvall and Vera Farmiga at the gala premiere at the city's Roy Thompson Hall.

The film sees Downey Jr star as a successful Chicago lawyer who returns to his Indiana hometown to defend his estranged father on a murder charge.

Some 300 films will be screened at the festival over the next 11 days.

The Judge is a return to drama for Downey Jr, who has spent recent years playing both the comic book hero Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.

It is directed by David Dobkin, who is better known for directing comedies such as Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights and The Change-Up.

Introducing the film on stage, Downey Jr praised Duvall's performance as his on-screen father, the local town's judge.

"A movie is only as good as the title character - unfortunately, I am not the judge," he said.

"This movie is about judgment, about family, about reconciliation and salvation.

"But it's really about a dad. And the dad has to be a mountain that [my character] has to find a way to climb."
 

Read more on the BBC website.