Review of The Judge (2014) by Chanel M — 20 Jan 2015

A consistently solid family/court-room drama that resonated far more than I thought it would given the unnecessarily long runtime and there were some real surprises in the last act. The story is akin to a John Grisham novel with the juicy story about a lawyer who has to defend his father in the very court he presided over, but there is a tender side to this story that some may find sappy, but I found completely credible and gut-wrenching.

Robert Downey Jr. is no stranger to a fast-talking, smart-ass role, but the fact that he's able to let loose like Tony Stark in an R-rated film is a real treat and he's helped greatly by one of Robert Duvall's best performances in years.

The supporting cast is great too with Vincent D'Onofrio very effective as Downey's begrudging brother and Billy Bob Thornton doing his domineering coldness as the opposing lawyer in the court.

There is a substantial subplot involving Vera Farmiga that wasn't necessary and could have helped keep the focus tighter, but it did lead to some awkwardly hilarious scenes. The scenes between Duvall and Downey are easily the best and there's an extremely moving bonding experience between the two of them that should hit home with anyone looking after their elders.

I honestly don't understand the hate behind this film other than the runtime; there is nothing wrong with sentimentality if it's handled well, and I think this film succeeded on many fronts.