by Ray DeLancey
Review for “The Judge”
Directed by David Dobkin
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, and Vincent D’Onofrio
Run time: 142 minutes
Rated R for language including some sexual references.
Hank Palmer (Downey, Jr.) is a hot shot lawyer in Chicago. While in the middle of a trial, he gets a phone call telling him that his mother has passed away. Reluctantly, Hank travels to his boyhood home in Indiana to a family he hasn’t seen in 20 years. Hank’s father is the very strict Judge Jospeh Palmer (Duvall) who, though he puts up a tough front, is having a tough time with the loss of his wife. Not only that, but it seems like he’s having memory problems as well. After the funeral, Hank can’t wait to get out of his home town away from the family he can’t get along with, but the local sheriff comes calling to tell him that there’s been a hit and run…and Judge Palmer is the main suspect. Judge Palmer can’t remember all the events of the night in question. After failing to find suitable legal representation, Hank decides to defend his father in court.
I was pretty excited to see this movie from the first time I saw the trailer. It looked like a good story, and it had great actors. A lot of reviews I read have said this movie is just a pile of old cliches. While some elements of the story have certainly been seen before (such as the father and son who hate each other, or the guy who finds out his old girlfriend never told him they had a child), I thought this movie was very fresh. One thing this movie really had going for it was that you get to know these characters pretty well, which many films today seem to gloss over. Technically speaking, this is a well-made film. Great editing and camera-work. There were certain camera angles that were used at various points in the film that seemed to say a lot more than the dialogue. I’m a big fan of courtroom dramas, and the trial in the movie was very interesting to watch (though I won’t talk details as I don’t want to give anything away). This movie had everything it needed to be a great piece of cinematic-history, but in my eyes it failed.
Most of what I’m about to say is from a Christian perspective, so I can’t expect you to agree 100% with me if you do not share my worldview. Firstly, the extreme amount of cussing in this movie really takes away from it. It’s on the same level of annoying as having a loud fly buzzing around your head for the duration of the film. Second, just about every character in the movie had incredibly loose morals that made it hard for me to give their respective situations sympathy. Even the Judge, who has a strong love for justice and truth, cusses worse than a sailor and is immoral in other ways. As you can imagine, Hank and his father start to reconcile their differences, but ultimately there’s no redemption for any of the characters. Hank, who is a work-obsessed egomaniac about to get a divorce, doesn’t change by the end of the movie (except in regards to his relationship with his dad). One thing that really disappointed me was a scene where Hank and his father are having a serious discussion about the illness. When asked if he believes in God, Hank’s father gives a response that…well, let’s just say it’s saddening and unsettling for a Christian.
To be honest, I left this movie sad. Not because of the sad content, but because it was a hopelessly worldly film that didn’t offer much positive resolution. As I said above, this had everything it needed to be a superb movie, but really fell short. I give this movie a 4/10.
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