By Kyle Osborne
You couldn’t ask for a better cast, and the production is first rate-so what’s wrong with “The Judge”?
The story follows a slick Chicago lawyer (Robert Downey, Jr.) who never represents innocent people because they can’t afford his services. Downey is perfectly cast as the cocky dandy in the perfectly tailored suit. We’d love to hate him, if it weren’t for the fact that his marriage is just about over and his sweet little daughter is cute as a button. So, right away we know that this movie isn’t going to challenge us by having a protagonist that’s too flawed.
We also know from the trailer and the TV ads that Downey’s character will be called home to “Smallville, Indiana,” where his father, played with the usual gravitas by Robert Duvall, is a long-sitting judge. The trip home is for his Mom’s funeral—that’s right, the dead Mom, never seen by the audience, except in her open casket, is a mere plot device to bring the estranged father and son together so that the real story of the film can fulfill its destiny.
We also know from the previews that the judge will be charged for a hit and run and the son will defend Dad in court—even though they’ve been estranged for years. Can father and son reconcile? Will Downey’s character run into an old flame who owns the local tavern and is played by the fetching Vera Farmiga? Will this B-story go just exactly the way you’d predict? No, wait a minute—will every single step down this movie’s road be completely predictable—that is, for the few moments that weren’t in the ubiquitous ads?
You see the problem. “The Judge” seems to be checking off the boxes on a list of things that happen in movies like this. And I’m not cynical enough to tell you what they are—but you’d know that this movie is just marching through a pre-ordained route to the end that doesn’t come for well more than two hours.
Now, some folks don’t like surprises, and they’ll find nothing overtly objectionable here. But when you’ve been told in advance that the story is about the son representing the father, every passing minute of set-up time just feels like blatant stalling.
What’s good? Well, Robert Downey, Jr. just keeps getting better with age. He’s comfortable in his own skin and his performances have benefited from his maturity. He’s the kind of actor you’re willing to see in just about any film. And Robert Duvall is a seasoned veteran who is always relatable. These guys and their co-stars lay out performances that slip over you like a comfy blanket.
So what’s wrong with “The Judge”? Maybe the answer is that nothing is wrong. It dutifully fills in all the *required fields. Just like so many, many movies we’ve seen before that are just like it.
“The Judge” gets 2 ½ out of 4 Stars and is rated “R”