Directed by:
David DobkinCinematography:
Janusz KaminskiComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, Leighton Meester, Ken Howard (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
In "The Judge," Downey stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before. (Warner Bros. US)
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In addition to enjoying movies that explore relationships between characters you grow to love, in the case of The Judge, I also appreciate the fact that it's a great combination of drama and humor. It's not outright slapstick humor, but some scenes are appropriately light-hearted, just as the plot is lightened by certain characters. And yet it remains believable enough.
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The Judge is a quality film that deals mostly with real emotions and is adorned with truly brilliant performances that make it as smooth to watch as the aerial pirouettes of pink elephants after taking LSD, but with the arrival of the closing credits, it leaves us with the feeling that this unique creative line-up deserved something more than this kind of easygoing filmmaking. Downey's scatterbrained egotistical character is irresistible, but unfortunately he represents the only rebellious and prominent element in an otherwise precisely measured process where the fates of the supporting players are irrelevant, while the development of the dramatic relationship between the two central characters sets a cinematic precedent. Duvall gives a terrific performance, of course, but Downey is the one that’s more visible and adds more juice to the story. Everything proceeds and ends as it should, but the forcibly pushed twist with the label "family above all" just doesn’t fit into the overall context full of heartless judgments, remorse and generational disputes. Or maybe it manipulates the witnesses quite blatantly. 70%
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The Judge is a virtually therapeutic family movie right on the edge of mainstream drama and audience-pleasing thriller that will satisfy most viewers thanks to its stellar cast and overall care in the making of this movie. There is little to fault it for, and I can only wonder how much different the movie would have sounded without "entertainer" Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role, so my feeling of satisfaction prevails after the first viewing. However, I could see this being a solid drama on a much smaller scale than it ultimately ended being - even though I understand that most viewers would then have not been so interested.
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When I actually realize what the movie was about (arrogant big city lawyer returns to his armpit of a hometown to reminisce and bring closure to some of the stages of his awkward youth, mend his relationship with his family, and ultimately defend his father, through which he finds his way to him), I suddenly realize what a horribly murderous 140 minutes it could have been. Except that The Judge has one big notch, and that's Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark again, except with an R-rating so he can swear like a heathen. Besides, his coked-up, neurotic posing, I confess, has never ceased to amuse me. However, I had the feeling all along that the pair of writers were blatantly fighting with each other during the writing process. They often tackle the old American family drama standards, but they take a slightly different approach and sometimes cleverly help themselves in quite original ways, as in the scene of Downey and Duvall arguing over a childhood scrape, which might not have worked so intensely if a hurricane hadn't raged by. On the other hand, again, some of the characters (most often the young lawyer) are in the film to comment on the obvious, and thus advise the viewer. Anyway, Duvall will not be up for an Oscar.
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Very good oscillation between a court process and a family drama about establishing a relationship between small town people and city dwellers – portrayed in a graspable and clear enough way, even for the average viewer. You won’t get bored in court and will the family scenes because their timing scenes is great, and you will fully enjoy those few rough peaks of the story. It's a shame about the irrelevant script deviations (the supporting characters), the slightly excessive much sentimentality at the end, and Billy Bob Thornton's unused potential, because his first scene in gives you goosebumps (yes, that scene with the folding glass). Nevertheless, the film achieves the main thing it was supposed to achieve. It's believable, sober, and true to life. Brilliant performances.
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