MOVIE REVIEW - THE JUDGE Release Date: 09/10/14 Rating: M Director(s): David Dobkin Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D’Onofrio & Leighton Meester Run Time: 141 min’s Score (out of 10): 2 Well, on the upside, Robert Downey Jr still has the Iron Man & Avengers franchises to fall back on. And it’s just as well; because if his career was gonna’ be judged by … well … The Judge, it’d be all over, red rover!! Seriously - this cliché-sodden mess is beneath almost everyone involved. RDJ plays the big-city lawyer who returns home for his mum’s funeral, only to end up defending his estranged dad (Duvall) - the small-town’s judge - who’s been accused of murder. But before you get excited, thinking this’ll be a riveting court room drama to tide you over between John Grisham stories - think again. TJ is all about the fractured father-son relationship. Oh, & in case you weren’t 100% sure that father & son really don’t like each other that much, they spend most of the film yelling at each other … just to make sure we totally get it. And in the brief moments in between arguments, we have to suffer through groan-inducing life lessons like “Sometimes you’ve gotta forgive, in order to be forgiven”. It’s almost like weepie author Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook / Dear John) was sitting in the director’s chair at moments like these. And then to add insult to injury, TJ carries a run time of 140 min’s. RDJ does his stock-in-trade, smart-ass motor mouth; whilst this isn’t Duvall’s 1st go around at the snappy old dog. And due to the father/son focus, Farmiga (RDJ’s former girlfriend), Thornton (the town’s prosecutor) & D’Onofrio (1 of RDJ’s 2 brothers) are all criminally under-utilised. So much potential - all pretty much wasted I’m afraid. TJ is full of ‘comedic’ moments that don’t make you laugh; & ‘touching’ scenes that leave you stone cold. #MovieFail101
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 02:02:50 +0000
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