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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Reviews (8)
The only thing this film can offer is good acting. Everything else just undermines it. Firstly, it tells a story about judges and for the most part it takes place in the courtroom. Which doesn’t have to be a drawback in itself, had it been well made. There is only one real courtroom moment, but it’s only at the end of the movie – it represents its climax and is also the only good moment this movie has. Secondly, a huge issue with this movie lies in its running time, which is too long given how little happens in there. Already in the first fifteen minutes you’ll understand the situation and how it will develop. Then it all, surprisingly, happens exactly as it would in real life and the audience has no choice but to wait for the ending. The ending is fortunately really good and shows the acting qualities of Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall and Billy Bob Thornton. Unfortunately, you have to suffer a hundred minutes of boredom to see this.
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A very, very long film, completely unnecessarily so. Although at first glance it would seem that there are a lot of characters to tell a story about, the opposite is true and it's still all about the father and son, with the others being more or less just unnecessary or unused ornaments (Billy Bob Thornton in particular). In addition, I saw The Judge in a failed Czech version, with Robert Duvall speaking to me in the completely inappropriate voice of Jiří Štěpnička (who, unlike his fellow "dubbers", at least tried to act). Two and a half.
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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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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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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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