The Judge: More Family Drama Than a Courtroom Movie

David Dobkin was best known for comedies such as Wedding Crashers, , Fred Claus or The Change-Up. With The Judge , he changed direction, opting for a family drama with a high-calibre cast and the trial of a judge as its backdrop.

It is a relatively slow-paced film that knows it has two great actors going head to head. Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. manage to make fairly conventional material interesting.

And yes, that acting duel is enough to sustain more than two hours of courtroom-movie clichés, although tighter editing and the removal of parts of the plot would probably have made it work better.

Even so, despite its excessive running time, the film remains very watchable with these two acting heavyweights on screen.

The Plot of The Judge

Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a successful lawyer who returns to his hometown after his mother's death. There he reunites with his brothers and, above all, with his father, Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall), a judge with whom he has a terrible relationship. To put it mildly.

Shortly afterwards, the judge is accused of running a man over and Hank, obviously and despite his father's reluctance, ends up taking charge of his defence.

The case forces father and son to live together and face old problems and grudges they have avoided for years.

The Best Things About The Judge

I have a feeling there will be quite a lot of agreement here.

Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall is magnificent, full stop. He keeps his character from becoming the typical authoritarian, proud and closed-off father. He gives him much more depth. And humanity.

The judge is harsh and extremely demanding with his sons. At the same time, illness reveals his physical decline and a vulnerability he tries to hide.

Duvall retains his authority even when he needs help and makes you understand the character without justifying everything he has done.

You watch him, dialogue after dialogue, gesture after gesture, and you believe the character and his actions, even though most of us would not make the same decisions.

The Duel Between Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr., without reaching the heights of his co-star, is also very good. Of course, he plays a character that is very familiar territory for him: intelligent, quick and arrogant.

Duvall works in the opposite register, with silences, looks and a drier authority.

The contrast means that their scenes together are the best in the film.. 

Their arguments carry more weight than the trial because behind every line lie years of resentment and a need for approval.

It is curious that in a film about a trial, the family drama comes off best, but that is thanks to the tension generated by these two superb actors.

The Relationship Between Father and Son

Following on from the previous point, this is what truly holds the film together..

The relationship between Hank and his father is clearly established and develops gradually. Their hostility is not the result of a single misunderstanding, but of years of pride, punishment, expectations and resentment.

The film explains why Hank left, why the judge acted as he did and how that conflict also affected the brothers.

It is well told, carries real weight and feels authentic. Without question, it is what the script does best.

The Supporting Cast

Billy Bob Thornton is one of those actors who can fill the screen without saying a word. One look tells you exactly what he is thinking, and he is excellent here as opposing counsel. 

Vincent D’Onofrio —who, to me, will always be Kingpin from Marvel's Daredevil— and Jeremy Strong —who, once again, is hard to imagine outside Succession—add weight as Hank's brothers and help show that the father's decisions have affected the whole family.

Their dynamic is clear and reinforces the film’s focus on the family conflict.

Vera Farmiga is also good, although her romantic subplot is predictable, which is more the script's fault than the actress's.

A Few Unexpected Moments

For a film that almost always follows familiar paths, it has a couple of scenes that break that predictability.

One raises the possibility of (mild) incest. The other shows the judge losing control of his bowels while his son has to help him.

The first is strange. The second shows the father completely vulnerable and briefly changes the relationship between them.

These two details step outside the usual formula and suggest that the film might have been more distinctive had it continued in that direction.

The Worst Things About The Judge

You can probably already guess from what I have said, but let’s highlight what I liked least.

It Is Full of Clichés

Let’s see:

1. The successful son who returns to his hometown.
2. The authoritarian father.
3. The brothers, relegated to supporting roles and scarred by the past.
4. An old love.
5. The family reunited by a death.
6. Illness used to bring the characters closer.
7. A lawyer smarter than everyone else. In other words…
8. …Robert Downey Jr. playing Robert Downey Jr.

The Judge uses almost every familiar cliché from family dramas and legal films with charismatic leads.

You know where it is going almost all the time.

It Is Too Long

That would not be a problem if the film were more aware of what it is: straightforward entertainment.

But no. It runs for 141 minutes and clearly could have told the same story —or the most interesting part of it— in considerably less time..

It never becomes boring, but it piles up too many subplots that add little: the old romance, Hank’s marital problems, his relationship with his daughter, Hank’s junior lawyer, the conflicts between the brothers, several parts of the trial that contribute little, and the drawn-out ending.

With twenty or thirty minutes removed, it would have had a better pace.

The Ending Is Too Manipulative

The final stretch tries to move the audience far too obviously.

The film had already built the father-son relationship well, so it did not need to labour the point or spell out so clearly what the viewer was supposed to feel.

The most moving moments are the simplest and most uncomfortable, such as the bathroom scene.

I do not think the excessively prolonged ending helps.

Verdict: Is The Judge Worth Watching?

The Judge is too long, highly conventional and ends on an overly manipulative note. Even so, it is entertaining, and its cast elevates the material far above what the script deserves.

Robert Duvall is brilliant, Robert Downey Jr. works very well alongside him, and the supporting cast keeps things interesting even when the story is so predictable.

The best part is the family drama: the father-son relationship, because it is developed patiently and makes their conflict understandable. The trial is secondary here, so it is better to know beforehand what to expect.

It is not an original film, but its cast makes it much more watchable than it ought to be.

The Judge: Technical Details

Field	Information
Title	The Judge
Original title	The Judge
Year	2014
Running time	141 minutes
Director	David Dobkin
Main cast	Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeremy Strong and Billy Bob Thornton
Genre	Family and legal drama
Country	United States
Available in Spain	Amazon Prime Video, subject to catalogue changes
Spoilers in this review	The ending is not revealed