These Certain Musings

Dev and I saw "The Judge" last night.  It's brilliant.  It pulls and pushes and stabs and hand-holds in all the right places.  I expected Robert Duvall to be wonderful, and he exceeded expectations.  Pride, humility, humiliation, complex love... he was incredible.

I don't know what I expected from Robert Downey, Jr., but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the fabulous performance he gave.  Too often, films of great emotion dip into melodrama.  Downey, even though he played a character striving to be larger than life, used whispers and asides and subtlety.

It was also one of the most difficult movie-watching experiences I've had in some time.  There are scenes that hit grief, regret, and longing for second chances.  Again and again, the film took hold of my heart, broke it, and refused to let go.  To be more specific would spoil the film, so...

Go see it.  Then be kind to those you love.