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 (4)
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)
Videos (8)
Reviews (9)
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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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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A nicely made combination of family and courtroom drama, with a great cast that adds to the authenticity and quality of the whole piece. It doesn't bore, entertains, surprises and impresses, and Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as always. My only complaint is towards the end, when the film indulged in too much drama and slowly dwindled on the courtroom action – were it the other way around, I would have been happier. A full-fledged film in terms of drama, it falls far short of its other genre peers in terms of courtroom tension. Still, a decent affair and a stronger 3 in the end.
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