Movie Review: The Judge..can’t decide what kind of case it wants to be

A few years ago, there was a beautiful albeit slow paced movie of a man caught in circumstance – The Descendants. Other than the unfitting ending it had, majority of the movie managed emotions and their portrayal quite well. For the first 35 minutes or so The Judge follows a similar path. The crucial difference is that while The Descendants had a very natural progression to the storyline, The Judge literally flies off in 15 different directions – leaving you completely bewildered at what the movie wants to showcase in the first place

The beginning of The Judge is promising and up to a point the movie was crackling – brimming with possibilities – rarely have I seen such strong emotions and under-currents so well portrayed in a family drama movie. Till suddenly, they just fizzled out completely – vanishing into thin air. What seemed a story around unresolved and understated conflicts in relationships, suddenly became a father son relationship, no sorry a murder trial, or wait a story about growing old with some kind of a love story thrown in as well – till its simply all over the place and you can only wonder what thread they’ll pick up next

As in the case with The Descendants, the writing is good and there is many a quip and smart remark that will make you chuckle and sometimes laugh out loud. But throughout the watch, the focus of the movie is not clear. You begin to think its about the murder trial and you settle in to go through the evidence and witness the testimonies when the director suddenly seems to zip past all that as if its not really the crux of the matter. The case itself isn’t that great and the arguments presented could easily be trumped by any of the episodes of Boston Legal. As the movie reaches its unsatisfying climactic moments, you are disconnected and disappointed and couldn’t care less what the final verdict is – just that the jury can make up its mind soon and you can get out of the theater

Robert Downey Jr. in a multi-faceted role looks the part though he is too suave to seem vulnerable. Robert Duvall plays his part well too, though I thought the relationship of these two characters which should really be the soul of this movie, is not well etched out. That said, largely due to the talents of the two actors - moments of the duo bickering, challenging each other and exhibiting that rare moment of emotional outburst, form some of the best moments in the movie.

The Judge promises an interesting case with a lot that is said and left unsaid in its earlier moments – but the follow through falls much short and the multiple threads don’t help matters. The mounting evidence in the wayward nature of the narrative convinces you that nobody really thought this through while making it and that The Judge deserved better representation and a more focused plot presentation.