Skip past around 60 films on Box Office Mojo’s 2014 yearly box office results to find “The Judge,” currently reaching 35 million in gross revenue. With so many amazing films to see from this year, especially ones with huge budgets filled to the brim with CGI settings, props, and even characters, there’s a lot of movies that you’ll miss seeing. Don’t let “The Judge” be that drama that slips past your radar this year or you’ll regret it. Still being in theaters, this film has the chance to still make a huge impression on a lot of people, as it did for me.
David Dobkin (“The Wedding Crashers”, “The Change Up”), showed his true directorial talent in “The Judge.” Very easily I could spend a day discussing the intricacies of the film’s plot, even more so once I see it again I’m sure, but instead I want to focus on the one reason why this film shouldn’t be missed. Dobkins, with the stellar support of brilliant actors Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, and the entire supporting cast, has created an honest picture of the world from within the relationships of this one family. Hank, played by Robert Downey Jr., is a lawyer who returns to his estranged family when his mother passes away and is forced to interact with a father whom he felt mistreated him as a son by being too strict due to his profession as a judge, as well as two brothers and an ex-high-school-sweetheart who all felt abandoned when he left. To make tensions higher, Hank’s father, played by Robert Duvall, becomes a suspect in a murder case shortly after Hank arrives and this is what the plot revolves around.
The question of “what is justice” comes up a lot in this film and is exemplified in the different opinions of the characters. Joseph, Hank’s father, believes that justice will always prevail when the truth is told whereas Hank defends those who are guilty and uses the justice system to their advantage. The way this theme develops throughout the movie is something you should pay attention to the next time you see it. Justice to Joseph at the beginning of the film would be proving that his story was the truth whereas justice for Hank would be finding Joseph not guilty regardless of the truth to his story. With the dynamic character development that Joseph goes through to lead the audience through the events of the night of the murder, we are never sure ourselves what the truth is until the very end. Like the jury we are making our own decisions throughout the process of the film and perhaps like the jury in the film we end up satisfied that justice was served but remorseful that it has to be that way. I really don’t want to spoil the ending for you so I’ll end it there.
What I really want to get to in this review was THE ONE REASON why you shouldn’t miss this film. Honestly for me it is one scene that makes me what to see this film again and again; the bathroom scene. Joseph is dying of cancer, you learn this shortly into the film when Hank learns it as well. The film becomes the plight a dying man fighting for his dignity with his son as the only one who knows. I will praise Robert Duvall’s portrayal of a terminal cancer patient to the end of time because he got it right. As someone whose own father faced a similar diagnosis and a sharp decline in health and mental awareness, I have always felt that the reality of sickness and losing someone who is still right there with you is one of the most difficult parts of humanity to portray on screen. Most people don’t want to see that and there often really isn’t much to see. Duvall’s character is portrayed as such a strong man but when cancer starts affecting his memory and control of his own body, he so quickly becomes vulnerable. The vulnerability of Duvall’s character in the bathroom scene brought tears to my eyes. Gross, uncomfortable things happen to a sick person’s body that a large part of society doesn’t like to talk about. After all the fighting they had, all the history of hurt between them, when Hank finds Joseph barely coherent and covered in his own filth there is not a moment of hesitation before he is picking his father off the ground and bringing him to the bathroom to clean him up. The familiarty and bonds of family take over in this moment of pure compassion; son caring for father as father cared for son as a child. Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall, in the shower together, hosing off shit and dealing with death staring them right in the face. What a powerful scene already, but once Hank’s daughter knocks on the bathroom door asking to come in, this scene really becomes one of my favorites in movie history.
Its funny. Life stinks and ends to quickly but it is funny; and this scene gets that. As Joseph gains consciousnesses, Hank flounders with what to tell his daughter to stop her from coming in and seeing the mess. Joseph whispers, “tell her we’re fixing the sink” and the tension just falls apart. Father and son, both trying to conceal their laughter at the situation and at themselves. Both characters portray so well the feeling of ridiculousness that comes with hopelessness. What a ridiculous thing life is to put people in a situation like this in the midst of death and fear of what is to come and how amazing of a director and actors to see this aspect of reality and give it such meaning in this scene. Life keeps moving around those who are facing death and the intricacies of losing someone goes so much further than grieving after they are gone. Finding humor in aspects of life was something I always cherished in my own father when he faced his death and was so very heartwarming to see in this film. Seeing these characters need each other and seeing these men provide for each other, laugh with each other, when so much about them is at odds was a beautiful moment and one I will always remember.
The relationship between father and son in this film was something I hadn’t seen a lot of before on screen and was poignantly unique. The way Robert Downey Jr. and the director has portrayed relationships between all characters in this film avoids a lot of common movie tropes and each deserves as much introspection as given here. I highly recommend watching this film, especially if you found this review intriguing. The plot is beautifully designed, never giving too much away and not getting distracted by irrelevant tangents. I’ve only skimmed the surface of thoughts and emotions that this film gave to it’s audience and I hope you’ll continue the discussion with me here once you see it!
Film’s official website: http://thejudgemovie.com/
Mad's Movies 