The Judge

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. (02/10/2015)

The courtroom and the incident handled there serve only as a cover for the family drama in which city boy Robert Downey Jr. re-establishes his relationship with his small-town family, led by Robert Duvall. As such, it can’t be compared to courtroom dramas like A Time to Kill or The Rainmaker. The Judge is halfway between them and the sentimental Marvin's Room. Both Roberts play great. Downey’s character seems to be written just for him, and Duvall excels in his role. However, some supporting characters (the sexy daughter played by Vera Farmiga and Dax Shepard’s inexperienced lawyer) slow the film down unnecessarily. They are not relevant enough for the story and merely disrupt the development of the complicated father/son relationship, which is of key importance for the film. On the other hand, the interesting lawyer played by Billy Bob Thornton could have been given more space. The once innovative and majestic music by Thomas Newman (used in Frank Darabont’s and Sam Mendes’s movies) has become a synonym for straightforward sentimental “music for the soul” of the consumer viewer, which is unfortunately what The Judge turns out to be. It’s not a bad movie, but its creators could have aspired to more. (10/29/2014)

Besides the fact that I like movies that deal with relationships between characters you can fall in love with, I also appreciate the fact that in the case of "The Judge", it is an excellent combination of drama and humor. It is not slapstick humor directly, but some scenes are appropriately lighthearted, just like the plot is lightened by some characters. And yet, it remains sufficiently believable. (01/12/2015)

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. (01/20/2022)

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% (02/20/2015)