Father-son conflict, awareness and correction. I understand that making a real drama is very difficult. It is necessary to walk along a fine line: not to overdo suffering and not to show their lack. In "The Judge," the creators didn't try to balance. Instead, they tried to cram in as much regret as timekeeping can withstand. I lost count. There is a dying father, and a traumatized brother, and abandoned love, and problems with his wife, and a deceased mother, and the lack of support from parents ... and I don’t remember what else. It won't be enough. If I were to see a sick puppy, I would probably feel it. And seriously, it is the overabundance of drama and suffering that prevents the heroes from empathizing. They turn into constantly screaming, bored strangers. Instead of trying to squeeze a tear both ways, you should take one line and open it completely. But apparently the author's eye was not enough.
And most importantly, what should I take away from the film, what did the director want to say? Should we love each other and forgive each other? Not at all convincing. One might as well say that there is no need to conflict in the family. Transforming a villain into a hero is not convincing. Was he a scoundrel because he was angry with his father? It is hard to believe that such a kernel Freudianism anyone is willing to seriously imply. And it turns out that we were shown an impossible fairy tale. There are nefarious powerful people who could be good like this, but they won’t. I don't understand the value of such pathos. Nevertheless, the film received a lot of positive and even enthusiastic reviews, which means that the audience liked this kind of drama and “cleansing”.