The Judge

 

DIRECTED BY-: 
David Dobkin

STARRING-: 

Robert Downey Jr. 

Robert Duvall 

Vera Farmiga

YEAR OF RELEASE-: 

2014

PREMISE-: 

Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE POSITIVES-:

The acting isn't exceptional, but its definitely one of the redeeming qualities of the film.

THE PROBLEMS-:

The film's biggest problem is that it failed to balance the emotional and sentimental tone of the family with a thrilling courtroom drama. This is because it never really committed to either one of them with a 100% sincerity. The screenplay lacked a certain earnestness required to properly flesh out the family members and the flare and exhilaration required to keep us on the edge of our seats during the court hearings. 

We get a half-baked A plot focussing on the legal proceedings and a half-baked B plot focussing on the familial drama. But we also get a really gratuitous and redundant subplot where Downey’s character makes out with his ex girlfriend and her daughter. This whole storyline made Downey’s character look like a creep and ruined the film’s pacing. That time could have been better spent in showing proper conversations between the brothers and the father which would prevented the brothers from feeling like one-note characters.

 

While the father-son dynamic felt compelling and full of potential initially, as the film progressed, it became abundantly clear that all the concepts between the characters lacked novelty and authenticity. The character growth of Hank and the reconciliation between him and his father felt very hurried and convenient. The court proceedings and the way Hank’s father’s case unfolds also felt very contrived and rushed.  

CONCLUSION

'The Judge' could have been a compelling father-son drama along with an exhilarating courtroom procedural but the unnecessary storylines, under-developed characters, and the monotonous execution of derivative themes made it a decent watch at best. 

RATING -: 4/10