Mikes Film Talk

The Judge Robert Downey Jr Tries to Play a Grown Up

The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall and Vera Farmiga is meant to be a drama, and the Iron Man star tries to play a grown up instead of his usual glib Tony Stark persona. He succeeds despite an audience who found his every utterance devastatingly funny. Listed as a drama, and it is, The Judge has some lovely light comic touches to alleviate the heaviness of the plot, some moments work better than others. For the disturbing comic touch, reference the making out scene in the bar and its later significance. Despite the focus on the dramatic, it seems that the screening crowd thought the film was a comedy or a very funny dramedy.