Review of The Judge (2014) by Jude P — 20 Feb 2018

Strong lead actors, let down by a weak script. Academy Award Nominee, Robert Downey Jr. and Academy Award Winner, Robert Duvall can't over come the film's thoroughly clichéd and melodramatic script.

The Judge had great potential in the beginning: A big city Chicago lawyer, Hank Palmer (Downey Jr.), returns to his hometown where his father, the town's judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder. Here we have an intriguing plot with two great veteran actors and yet The Judge still turned out to be a dud. How do you ask? It all comes down to director David Dobkin's (Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus) decision to fill his film with too much melodrama and clichés galore.

While this film is beautifully filmed and skillfully acted (to the best of their abilities), The Judge, sadly, still can't scrap up enough evidence to prove its worthiness. There's also way too many subplots that didn't' need to be explored. Downey gets mixed with his ex-lover (Vera Farmiga) and butts heads with legal nemesis (Billy Bob Thornton). If you just want to see this film for sheer pleasure of Downey and Duvall go ahead because you may find some satisfaction there. In the end, The Judge disappoints and ironically it should be judged for its own damn faults.