The Judge Review

Robert Downey Jr. has made a name for himself over the past six years. He was a promising actor in the 90's and early 2000's that fell off the face of the earth due to his troubling drug issues. Then in 2008, he starred in the Marvel film Iron Man and since then, he's become a big name box office wise and praised critically for his roles. But after a string of box office hits, Downey Jr. wanted to slow things down and make a father-son drama known as The Judge as his first film produced under the Team Downey company that he owns with his wife. The trailers seemed promising enough and made me think that both Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall had strong chances at this year's Academy Awards. In the end, while Downey Jr. and Duvall give compelling performances, The Judge is a film full of clichés and unoriginality that it's easy to forget about by the year's end.

The main positives truly lie in the performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. They play a very realistic father and son in this film. Their arguments and support of each other feel realistic and don't feel over sensational unlike the rest of the film. Although their scenes are great together, they shine individually too. You feel for both characters who want respect from each other, but show it in completely opposite ways. The other positives lie in the cinematography and music. Thomas Newman's score is subtle but also very soothing and it fits the scenes well. And Janusz Kaminski's shot choices are very beautiful to look at and the dark color palette works too.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a mess. While most of the cast is very good in their roles, they are underused and some characters deserve more development than others. Billy Bob Thornton is truly great in his role and I honestly feel he deserved more screen time than he was given. The only cast member that I felt was truly awful in the role was Jeremy Strong playing Downey Jr.'s mentally challenged brother. It's a lazily done performance that not only is a terrible one, but a truly offensive view of mental disabilities. I'll give Strong slack that some of the blame is from the script, but his performance feels like he's only there to accept the paycheck and run and truly not care about the community his character represents. Strong's performance in the film might be the worst I've seen all year and I hope he gets a Razzie nomination for his role.

The rest of the film's problems lie in its direction and script. Honestly, who thought it was a good idea to hire David Dobkin, a comedy director known for Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus, to direct a domestic courtroom drama? His pacing feels uncertain throughout, he has sprinkles of a courtroom drama, a comedy, and a father-son tearjerker. In the end, there's way too many subplots throughout that the film's long length feels wasted as a result. But hey, at least this film is a step up compared to Dobkin's last film, the atrocious and unfunny The Change-Up. The script does not help it either. Honestly, I called the exact ending of the film 20 minutes in. It rips off so many scenes from other movies and the dialogue feels dumbed down so the lowest denominator cannot predict the film. Unfortunately, for movie buffs like myself, it's very predictable and the films it rips off do a better job at handling the material.

The Judge is honestly a huge disappointment for me. Downey Jr. and Duvall give it their all, but the rest of the film is a predictable, overlong, and dull mess. It has a few good emotional moments and the music and cinematography are fantastic, but honestly I expected a lot better since this was Downey Jr.'s passion project. I do hope he does more films like this given his acting ability, but let's hope the next film is not as forgettable as The Judge was.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10