The excitement from Labor Day’s shoot (2012) had barely settled down when another movie crew came to Shelburne Falls to film The Judge, a melodrama set in Indiana. Mistaking Shelburne Falls for a town in Indiana requires considerable suspension of disbelief, but, as Irving Thalberg told his art director, who complained about using an ocean backdrop for a scene set in Paris, “We can’t cater to a handful of people who know Paris.” And, in contrast to Labor Day, Shelburne Falls appears in the film a lot as do various nearby locations, including repeated aerial shots of the Mt. Massaemet Fire Tower. (Two days of shooting at Avery’s General Store in Charlemont seem to have been left on the cutting room floor, however.)
Not only does The Judge, directed by David Dobkin, include abundant footage from the ‘hood, it’s actually a pretty good movie. Robert Duvall is superb as the title character, and Robert Downey, Jr. as his smart-ass lawyer son is fun to watch. The film’s love story never quite rings true, the final court room showdown is the sort of thing that gives melodrama a bad name, the ending is too drawn out, and the evil-city-versus-virtuous-small-town plot premise is both clichéd and dated, but the characters are well-drawn, and Downey’s two on-screen brothers, played by Vince D’Onofrio and Jeremy Strong, are a delight. Billy Bob Thornton gives a fine performance as the righteous, low-key, out-of-town prosecutor. In addition to the actors, the writers (Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque) help to save the film from being just another hackneyed prodigal son story. Wit and irony not only suffuse the Robert Downey character’s outlook on life but, apparently, the filmmakers' as well, for, in a self-reflexive move, they include one character, the youngest brother, who is a compulsive, amateur filmmaker and also mentally handicapped (in a charming Hollywood kind of way).
If you’re from Western Massachusetts, be sure to sit through all the final credits, which include the “Shelburne Falls Crew” and gratitude to the people of Shelburne Falls and Buckland. While the production offices were set up in Shelburne Falls, shooting took place in a number of other Massachusetts towns as well. IMDb credits Boston as the film’s location, but that is an error, no doubt born of the West Coast assumption that Massachusetts is so small it must all be Boston. I suspect that in LA one can drive 100 miles and still be in LA (or somewhere similar). Drive 100 miles from Boston, and if you’re not in a different state entirely, you’re definitely in a different world (although not one that looks anything like Indiana).
But, seriously, if you love Western Mass, Robert Duvall, or both, go see the film!