The Judge

Objection! Meretricious sentimentality! Objection! Badgering the audience! Where is this leading, your honour?

As the verdict draws closer, the sentimental silliness and courtroom cliches pile up ...

Unfortunately, when Downey is not centre-stage the drama becomes leaden, sentimental and utterly improbable.

For all its contrivances and occasional lapses into On Golden Pond-style mawkishness, this is a richly crafted yarn that boasts barnstorming, if very showy performances from Duvall and Downey Jr.

There are a number of fine reasons to see the courtroom-meets-family melodrama The Judge. As you might suspect, two stand out: actors Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr.

Every scene makes its point, every line of dialogue weighs in. But it works the material too hard - it's all so emphatic and over-egged and improbably tied together.

[...] as predictable as it sounds, “The Judge” is anything but that. The film might be a family drama, but it’s refreshingly adult [...] and filled with surprising emotional honesty.

The familiarity of the story hurts what is Dobkin's otherwise pleasantly sincere and straightforward direction, and a number of fine performances.

Robert Duvall gives a startlingly visceral performance in Robert Downey Jr's courtroom drama.

The hardest working movie in show business. It's a film that wants to check all the boxes and tries just a little too hard.