Give Me 10 Minutes, I'll Give You The Truth About 'The Judge' - Movie Review

IMDb rating - 7.8/10

My rating - 3.5/5

Last night I have been to the movie ‘The Judge.’ I booked it just for the sake of Robert Downey Jr. and the interesting plot line that I browsed through, in IMDB and SPI Cinemas. After booking the tickets, out of curiosity, I began browsing for the reviews which I shouldn't have. Because it made me go wild, most of the reviews were concentrating on the flaws, which is, its sluggish pace and lack of depths in the patch. Oh my gosh! Why didn't I read this before booking the tickets? Am I gonna sleep in the theater? What do I do? I started hitting my surroundings and punching myself.

‘Watch it for your Sherlock,’ says a very slow and calm voice from an unidentified location (Yes! My mind voice). For the matter of fact, I booked for Robert Downey Jr., then let us watch it for him, after all he is an excellent actor right!

Alright, Enough of Downey-talks, let us get started. Fundamentally, I rate movies based on four parameters – story, screenplay, performance and music. Here goes my review…

What makes you stay seated?

Well! I could say, the story is the feel-good factor about the movie, which figured out really well with an even more pleasing and soothing numbers by Thomas Newman. Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.), an infamous lawyer gets back to his hometown paving visit to his mother’s funeral. While in town, he comes across a case in which his father, the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and as well reconnects with his separated family, especially his father (Robert Duvall).

Music adds value to the pleasant story-line, creating a mesmerizing effect. Particularly, the father-son duo scenes were nothing without such an evoking numbers.

Performance, of course, is the stand-alone part of this film. I cannot even imagine this movie without Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. Kudos to the casting team for that. Duvall is very classic with his witty dialogue deliveries and elegant yet passionate characterization. Downey is supreme in his role, be it his timing-comedy, expressionless emotion or intellect, he amazes you in all the scenes.

What would have been better?

The plot moves around with an usual pace as other family drama. I would rather suggest/expect unusual twist and turns in the screenplay, which is possible, since it delivers an impressive crime investigation in the story-line itself.

Samantha, Vera Farmiga, Hank’s past girlfriend doesn't have much to prove apart from some intimate scenes. Same goes with her daughter Carla, Leighton Meester, as well.

Most part of the movie involves around the chief characters, i.e. Hank and Judge, leaving behind others which doesn't go well with the plot.