In Review: The Judge

In Review: The Judge

I smell an Oscar nomination!! And it's not even Christmas yet!

The Story

Robert Duvall is going to jail! Haha well, his character might be. Duvall plays the always-fair-always-truthful judge of a small town in Indiana. Robert Downey Jr. is his distant son Hank who has run off to Chicago to live his dream of becoming a well-paid lawyer (notice how I said well-paid and not well-liked or righteous or moral). The two have been fighting for years. The only reason Hank comes to visit his father, Joseph (who he refers to as "Judge"), is because Hank's mother has died. While Hank is in town, Joseph is accused of murder. Hank manages to push aside his pride to act as his father's lawyer. The case will test Hank's patience with his father as well as his comfortable distance he has with his past.

The Stars

I do think Robert Downey Jr. should at least be nominated for Best Actor this year. I know it is really early in the Oscar season, but this one needs to be on the Academy's mind. The world knows Robert Downey Jr. as the child star turned junkie turned self-centered sarcastic superhero, but they don't know him like this. He is so vulnerable and honest at moments in the film that you think, "This is Iran Man?" We see his heart, which tends to get fogged over by the sarcasm and one-liners of his other films.

Duvall is, of course, brilliant as well. What I love most about this movie is that we all would love to see Duvall's character completely accept his son into his life with open arms and beg for forgiveness for everything that has happened in the past. But that never fully happens. Duvall never breaks character. A real father who has alienated his son for years would never open up to him fully and ask for forgiveness. We want him to in this fantasy world, but he never would in real life. Because he doesn't know how.

The Message

I want to say that this movie tells all parents to learn to forgive their children for their pasts and ask for forgiveness for the wrongs they have done. But that's not what this is about. After all, this is Hank's story. Not Joseph's. Hank's whole life he is fighting his past- he gets a job far away from home, running away from an old girlfriend who could have been more, running away from a brother with disabilities, another brother whose life he ruined, and a whole other list of passed mistakes. This movie is really about him forgiving himself and faces his mistakes, accepting that they happened and learning to move forward. This is the only way he learns to forgive his father and how he finds the strength to fight for him.

Overall

The only issue I had with this movie is the middle was a little slow to start. There is a long period of time before we get the trial started- we have to pick the jury, find the right lawyer, prepare, prepare, prepare. In real life, that is entirely accurate. Preparation is how you win a case. But for a movie, there is not too much drama. Thankfully a lot of this down time is used to fill the viewer in on the ghosts of the past. Overall, except a family drama with some court scenes. It's not your average court room drama. It's more about the family's development, and more specifically Hank's development.

3 out of 4 Gavels (the judge hammer thing)

 

In Review: Chef (2014)

In Review: Chef (2014)

Finally! I get to write about something worth seeing.

It's another food film (sorry!) but that seems to be the only genre that has something new coming out of the oven (I'm looking at you rom-coms!)

Plot

 

Carl (Jon Favreau) has been working at the same restaurant for years, and yes, has received some amount of success. But just like every artist, he strives to create something new. So when creative differences come between Carl and the restaurant owner, played by Dustin Hoffman, Carl is forced to start over. And by the method of I-know-a-guy-who-knows-a-guy, Carl gets a fodd truck and is finally able to be himself in his food, and find himself as a father.

The Stars

 

Jon Favreau, now known for as the driving force behind every single Iron Man movie and as Happy, the metal man's "bodyguard", looks like he should quit acting and become a real-life chef. He is confident in every movement he makes in the kitchen, and that only comes from someone who feels comfortable behind a stove. Not that his previous roles were bad, but I feel like this is the first time I get to see really see him.

John Leguizamo is on my list of favorite actors. It may partly be because he happens to be a favorite of my favorite director (Baz Luhrmann) and is in one of my all time favorite movies ("Moulin Rouge"), but there are other reasons too. He has a wide range of character. He can be pure evil ("Romeo+Juliet"). He can be the funniest guy on screen ("Ice Age"), and he can do this where he is your best friend and you couldn't be happier that he was.

P.S. an appearance by RDJ makes one of the funniest scenes in this movie!

The Message

 

Unlike the last food movie I reviewed, this film is not about the food. Don't get me wrong, I was drooling throughout the whole thing for cubanos, brisket, and beignets. But this movie wasn't about how food can change people. Mostly because our main character knows how amazing food is.

It's more so about that time-old lesson that work is not life. Taking time to stop, reflect, and connect with those people you tend to forget about on a day-to-day basis is what life is all about. This go-go-go attitude wears us and our families down. This is why family dinners every night at a dinner table are so important.

Overall

 

I really did like this movie, but it was missing something. It was missing that extra push of character growth. By the end of the film, we do see that Carl has spent a whole lot of time with his son and that he wants more of it. He realizes he has really missed out on being a dad to this adorable kid. But the problem is we experience this jump in growth. All of the sudden, Carl takes this kid food shopping with him properly, lets him cook in the kitchen, and basically help run his new business without so much as a bump in the road. It seems as if they have been doing this forever with no real separation. It would have been great to see this real distance between the two characters so it leads us to a triumphant ending. But that would mean that our hero would need to act as the bad-dad for a little while, and that can get tricky.

 

But overall, I really did like this movie, and it made me really, really want to try a cubano.

 

2.5 out of 4 Cubanos