Just that...
I think people get carried away with the names of the cast, but nothing interesting happens.
Downey and Duvall are great but the movie is just no interesting
No suspense, no twists, no flavors of any kind
Totally decaffeinated
My friend could have cared less about who was in it, and he enjoyed the film fine. You didn't and that's cool. Doesn't mean the people who did are merely star struck.
"Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind."
I agree with OP. Boring movie. RDJ is as annoying of a cocky prick as in Iron Man.
shareYou mean couldn't have cared less.
share"Overrated"? Lol! Reviews were mixed. No one thought this was the best movie ever. If it were any more overrated, the studio would end up owing money (they may anyway).
shareBoring!? Wow. This is excellent story telling, with complex characters that make you think about life, love, choices and consequences. If you come from an imperfect family, and most of us come from one, I cannot see how one wouldn't relate to this story. I laughed and cried.
shareThis is excellent story telling
So what if it's formulaic? Law & Order is the definition of formulaic and it was quite enjoyable and successful.
Frankly, the overwhelming majority of Hollywood films are formulaic. There really is no reason to target this one film for it.
"Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind."
"Law & Order" is a TV-show. 'The Judge' is a movie, and it has some of the top actors of our time.
And when there is a courthouse drama led by Vin Diesel that wipes the floor with a courthouse drama led by Robert Downey Jr., there is a problem with the latter.
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Um, Law & Order also has a lot of top actors. And the whole "movies are better than TV" thing is old fashioned.
"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel. Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night."
Movies now are better than American TV from the 90s. This is simply a fact. Besides, it is forgivable for an endless TV-show to follow a formula.
It is not forgivable for a potential Oscar contender to follow the formula of a TV-show.
Writing-wise 'The Judge' is an extended episode of "Suits". Nothing more. Robert Downey is Harvey Specter, the other lawyer is Mike Ross at the beginning, the judge is the tough client. There are even some intentionally comedic moments.
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I can just as easily state as "fact" that Hollywood movies haven't been better than parallel TV in a long time.
See, "forgivable"? You think of formulaic as a put down. It's not automatically a bad thing. Most artists would give their first born to uncover a formula that works.
And again, most court dramas do follow a fairly standard pattern. If you put down one for that, you have to put them all down.
"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel. Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night."
I can just as easily state as "fact" that Hollywood movies haven't been better than parallel TV in a long time.
You think of formulaic as a put down. It's not automatically a bad thing.
Most artists would give their first born to uncover a formula that works.
And again, most court dramas do follow a fairly standard pattern. If you put down one for that, you have to put them all down.
Otherwise they would make it more lighthearted.
The comedy bits looked like they came out of a different movie. 'The Judge' was as a whole dead serious.
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The humor might not be what some people expect from this type of movie, but I didn't feel like it was a huge disconnect. Agree to disagree. :)
"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel. Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night."
Could you kindly give examples where you are right and the other poster is wrong? Because so far all I see are your opinions with no proof backing them. And as we all know, that doesn't stand up in court.
shareI agree with you. Loved the movie.
shareNo suspense, no twists, no flavors of any kind
Exactly where was it predictable, emotionally manipulative and disingenuous? I'm doubting you know the meaning of these words.
shareYep, couldn't agree more - adds nothing to the genre, oversold, trailer completely misleading, schmaltzy crap mostly phoned in by all.
Please no more of this selling, what could have been a really interesting pic descended into cliched poop.
That.......or you are just a complete philistine. Why does a movie have to have suspense, twists and surprise. I suspect your reading list (if you read) is all pulp fiction...
sharethat’s the only thing you could see in the movie? If you can't go deeper and deeper into that movie it doesn’t mean the movie is plain.
To me this film does a restoration of what fatherhood means. It’s a rare thing these days. The general trend is that you must be rebellious and fight actively against laws, rules and every patriarchal value...
Well this movie reveals what a father means in one’s life.
The father is the one capable to reveal you to yourself.
The big shot lawyer, from the big city, facing the hidden wound of his father’s soul. An old wound made by nobody else but him. The rebellious son.
The father is hurt by the son’s impertinence and insolence to the point he becomes a criminal. A good man, a fair judge becomes a criminal.
The big shot lawyer realizes that, through his arrogant and insolent attitude he destroyed his brother’s life; and the father still suffers to the point he accidentally kills someone. Someone reminding him of his son. Father has tried so hard to destroy son’s insolence and make him see his mistake and the flaws of his personality in order to convince him to make a correction. He failed. For a father that’s a heavy pain.
Father’s failure leads to son’s professional failure he can’t save his father from the prison. But at least the son sees himself as he is. A bit of reparation is done.
Not everybody can empathize with that story.
I do and probably I’m not the only one.
There is also a part of that movie where I totally see myself. When the judge meets his granddaughter, Hank’s daughter.
My paternal grandfather was the person I loved the most from my family. He was the one loving me the most and he was the only person I could talk to without any explanation. He spoiled me like nobody else. He used to be an extremely severe father to my dad; just like may dad was and still is to me; you know nothing changes as they grow old. My grandmother used to say: look at him now, I can’t believe it! if you only knew how he was as a father with your dad…
Truth is, father’s love is a constraining force preparing you for life and it’s a privilege having a father. Many feel it like a negative force; but what bliss is having a father! That makes you be invincible; Why? Because behind that constraining force; the driven energy is an incredibly amount of love. That love is revealed only to the next generation; dad can't afford to show that love to you; he can't show you weakness! maybe to your kids but not to you.
I posted this message b/c there are very few movies praising father’s values in one’s life.
It’s understandable! I may sound paranoiac but there are many groups of interests wanting you to be weak and frail in order to manipulate you easily.
So, movies like The Judge are rare.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
totally agreed with you. by the way, did he really screwed his own daughter?
shareIf you're asking, it can't have been that boring. ;)
"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel. Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night."
no, turned out that he made out with his niece. Leighton Meester's character ended up being his brother Glen's daughter.
it isn't alot better....but it sure as hell could've been worse.
nowhere does it show he screwed anyone. he made out with what turned out to be his niece, but he didn't know that she was his niece, the father of the young lady (D'Onofrio's character) doesn't even know he has a daughter. only one person knew who her dad was until Downey's character found out towards the end. now, when he did the math HE thought he had made out with his daughter, but he didn't.
shareFirst of, not his daughter, the father was his brother Glen. Second, no he did not.
shareThis trend where people like to use the phrase "nothing really happened/happens" to describe movies they didn't enjoy is just downright ignorant.
99% of Hollywood movies follow the same 4 act formula. Lots of things happened. You may not have enjoyed the events that took place in this film.
Compare this formula to a movie you did enjoy and it follows the same formula, just different "things" happened that you may have found more entertaining. Don't be so obtuse.