The Judge

The Judge stars Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall as a strained father and son. Jr. is a hot shot lawyer who comes from a small town where is the father is a Judge (Duvall). Duvall was out one night after a funeral of his wife. They wake up and find that there is a dent in his car and that he may have run down a man. So Jr. most come to help is father and save him from jail time.

Now, that the story is out of the way I have two huge things to say about this film. The casting was great in this film. Downey and Duvall are great in this film. Both actors go thought the whole cycle of emotions. All the from happy and laughing to sad and angry. I will also say the characters are both very good and feel like real people. At least the characters themselves do the plot and way it's handled is different. I can really see that both of these characters are related. I really enjoyed it for that reason and that reason alone. You really get that the writers and director really wanted to tell a family drama more than a courtroom drama. Just this court thing is the background noise to the real story that is Duvall and Downey's relationship. The other thing that I really enjoyed about this film was cinematography done by Janusz Kaminski. If Roger Deakins is my all type favorite cinematographer, then Kaminski is easily my second. He really works a lot with Steven Spielberg. Shot some of his best work in Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. This movie looks absolutely amazing. Going into the film I didn't know he had shot it. Leaving the film I knew it had to be him. He does some of my favorite things with low lighting in the courts for the dark moments and bright and sunny for the great out doors moments. There are so many very good looking shots. There was only one that I really didn't enjoy,  but nothing that is distracting when it comes to the image.

My big problems are the pace and how the overall story is handled. The pace of the film is very slow. I mean that is a big problem for a film with a run time of two and a half hours. There are two characters that I will not mention because they serve to the overall film. It doesn't focus on the relationship or the court room parts. It just slows the film down and adds more screen time that isn't really needed. The trailer is another thing that I had a huge problem with they are really trying to sell this huge courtroom drama. I never really got that from this film. It shouldn't have been the center or the main focus. The court room part actually kind of bored me except for the last one, but that is because that was mostly about the relationship between the father and son. I think that if they wanted to sell courtroom drama, it should have been a lot more intense.

I think overall this film is very okay. You get two great performances from the leads and some great looking scenery, but the overall story is just too heavy handed with the story and long. I think if you are looking for a descent family drama and good leads, then you have found your movie. But if you are looking for a 12 Angry Men or A Few Good Men. You sadly won't find it here.

RATING
2.5 out of 4 Ticket Stubs