Review of The Judge (2014) by Private U — 02 Nov 2015

Seeing the trailer, the movie really captivated me with the tension it conveyed. I was really intrigued to watch this particular father- son relationship, not to mention the mystery about the father's crash.

I was rewarded for every minute of watching the movie and it has really been quite some time since I watched a movie that was so sound in terms of storyline and script. The characters were portrayed vividly by the actors and it was a really balanced cast in terms of performance. What could anyone say really about the performance of the father or the one given by Robert Downey Jr? This guy really evolves and progresses all the time..

I really liked the small parallel stories that went on, making you really focus on each one as the film progressed, in a way that you sort of forgot what was going on in the other stories, until time came to get the update on them as well. The accident, RD's marriage, RD's affair, his alleged daughter, etc. I was really moved by the role of the mentally challenged brother. This was a guy that had his own problems but he was always a voice in each situation that said out loud what others would not because of social "musts" or their own discretion. He was a constant reality-check throughout the movie.

The end was a perfect wrap up and the final moments of the movie were both breathtaking and devastating. Seeing a 75-year old servant of the law getting out of prison with his health greatly deteriorated, the fishing trip with the son, the change in his behavior towards him, all of these. It is amazing how all the characters evolved through the movie into a better version of themselves and how in the end, even death came at such a sweet way, if I may say so. A movie filled with moral lessons and with moral dilemmas for that matter. It's a movie where sides cannot be picked easily and where the catharsis comes in the end for everyone but mainly for the father-son duet. It's really really a must watch!