Families are complicated. They’re often messy. Those messes can devolve and destroy and devour some. Too often people stay in a bad relationship with family members simply because of shared genetics, allowing abuse and hurt to fester and spoil. But sometimes those bad moments are misunderstood and need to be worked out. Sometimes time does help to heal. Sometimes, more exists unsaid and under the surface than anyone can realize. The Judge tries to dig into those layers. It doesn’t completely miss the mark, but it bounces off of it as soon as it tries to connect.
As a basic courtroom drama, The Judge falls short. Sure, several jokes I alone laughed at in the theater. Several times too, I was glad it was dark enough such that my eye rolls over the witness-questioning absurdities were not seen. But as a family drama, The Judge seems a little different from the ordinary flick about estranged father and son. That’s due to Robert Duvall’s performance more than the script, though. For the rest of the story was almost as predictable as most, and that usually bores.
I saw The Judge, though, for Robert Duvall’s award-nominated acting. He delivers a solid role in the film as a bitter, sad, broken-hearted man battling demons buried and living within him. As solid as it is, though, it doesn’t begin to compare to the performances by Ed Norton in Birdman and J.K. Simmons in Whiplash. And it’s probably too much his typical style (bitter, hardened man) to really stand out and be as noticed as it otherwise could. Still, it earned a Golden Globe and SAG nomination for supporting actor, and I won’t be surprised if he’s among the list come Oscar announcement time.